Wolf Love
by Cam910
Summary: RemusHarry. Remus's and Harry's lives throughout the course of a adultwerewolfteenagedhuman relationship what with the entire Wizarding World demanding for Remus's arrest and people trying to break the two up. 1st chapter Continuiation page Author permis
1. Continuation

This story is permitted to continue by Redroses2 I have recieved emails saying he wants me to continue with story. Chapters 1through14 by Redroses2, while chapters 15through? by Cam910


	2. Chapter 1

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Warnings: Man-on-boy, RemusHarry. Don't like, don't read. Rated for themes and situations. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Flames will be used to burn Wormtail alive. Report any OOC-ness to me.

Chapter One: Dementor Lesson.

Harry had come to Professor Lupin during September to ask for lessons on scaring away dementors because he was tired of almost everyone making fun of his fainting whenever a dementor was near. Professor Lupin had agreed. They chose a date for which to have the lesson, which would be two days after the discussion was held. Professor Lupin, however, had been slightly hesitant to agree. Lately, the teacher had stumbled upon an attraction to a thirteen-year-old, dark-haired, green-eyed, glasses-wearing boy who happened to be his best friend's, James, son.

Remus, if you do one inappropriate thing to him, you force yourself to go to Dumbledore, tell him what happened, and ask to at least be fired! Professor Lupin thought to himself over and over ever since this started. I mean, he's James's son, for God's sake! And he's twenty years younger than you! What the hell's wrong with you? Sure, he's incredibly handsome and he acts older than he is and he has a fair amount of his parents' traits and he's single and . . . . What am I saying? Lupin shook himself out of his thoughts and was thankful that no one could hear his thoughts. He was guilty enough as it was. He heard the classroom door open and Harry entered.

"Good afternoon, Professor," Harry greeted as he closed the door behind him.

"Good afternoon, Harry," Lupin replied, fighting the impulse to bite his lower lip. He had to act like nothing was wrong, but that's a little hard when the object of your affection who might as well be forbidden fruit in a Greek myth has his shirt's first two buttons (not counting the collar button) undone and his tie completely abandoned. His skin was a delicate pale color from his neck down to the little bit of chest that Lupin could see. Gulping, Lupin tore his eyes away from Harry and dragged a trunk out from behind the desk. "There's a boggart in the trunk, Harry. When it comes out, it'll take the form of a dementor and you'll be able to practice on it."

"All right," Harry said, a dash on apprehension in his voice.

"The spell that drives a dementor away is called the Patronus Charm. Have you ever heard of it?"

"No, sir," Harry answered honestly. Lupin was having a hard time looking at Harry and talk without choking on his words because he was completely alone with him, in a room where no one was going to enter for hours because the other teachers knew how important this was and that students wanted to be far away from the History of Magic classroom as long as possible, and fantasies were trying to force themselves into his head.

"The Patronus Charm is something that is made out of the happiness of the conjurer. The dementor feeds on it instead of the wizard or witch, and because the Patronus cannot feel sadness, the dementor becomes fearful and runs away. The incantation for the charm is this: Expecto Patronum,"

"Expecto Patronum. Expecto Patronum." Harry glanced at his wand expectantly. Nothing happened.

"The incantation alone won't bring out the Patronus. You also need a happy memory," Harry looked like he was thinking hard on a happy memory. His eyes were closed as he thought so Lupin was free to take a better look. "Free" wasn't exactly the right word for it because he hit himself mentally for even glancing at the bare skin of the boy. He half-wished Harry would hurry up and open his eyes so he wouldn't have time to dream about him and Harry. Soon, Harry opened his eyes again and Lupin tried not to show relief or guilt. "Ready?" Harry nodded. "Okay then." Lupin opened the trunk and the boggart came out in the form of a dementor. The cloaked monstrosity glided its way toward Harry.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted. Nothing happened. "Expecto Patro – Expecto – Expec –." Harry began to loose consciousness. Lupin jumped in the boggart's way and it shape shifted into the full moon.

"Ridikkulus!" Lupin exclaimed and in a few seconds, Lupin locked it back in the trunk. He went over to Harry and tried to revive him. Harry opened his eyes slowly.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled as he sat up. Suddenly, an accident happened. Somehow, as Lupin was about to stand back up, he tripped, fell on top of Harry, and his mouth found its way to Harry's and their lips locked together. Lupin and Harry just sat there, shocked, for half a minute. Lupin quickly got off of him, red in the face. Harry blushed too, but he didn't bother getting up. He just stared at him. Lupin wasn't sure he wanted to know what was going through the boy's mind.

"Terribly sorry about that, Harry," Lupin apologized, hoping he could smooth this over. "Tripped. Won't happen again. Er – if you'd like to continue the lesson for today, we can, or we could just . . . stop for today." After that he probably wants to get out of here as quick as possible and not be left alone with me ever again.

Harry slowly stood back up, concentrating his stare onto the trunk. "I – I'd like another go at it. Please," Harry added, glancing up uncertainly at his teacher. Lupin allowed himself a single thought on how cute he looked with that look on his face before replying.

"If you insist." Lupin opened the trunk again and the boggart in dementor form glided into the room.

"Expecto Patronum! Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted, wand pointed at the boggart. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A white silvery mist shot out of Harry's wand and it was keeping the boggart-dementor at bay. Harry looked as though he was about to pass out. The boggart backed off slightly. After a few moments, it was back in the trunk.

"Well done, Harry! Well done!" Lupin congratulated. Harry sat down, panting. "Here. It'll help." Lupin handed Harry some chocolate and he took it. "I think that's all for today."

"No!" Harry argued suddenly. "I want to go again!" Lupin reminded himself whose son he was and wasn't surprised by his eagerness or his stubbornness.

"What you've accomplished today won't disappear next week. Besides, an indistinct Patronus is much more than what most wizards and witches can do." Lupin thought it best to keep Harry's mind off what happened only moments ago and prayed that he wouldn't tell Ron and Hermione what happened. "Also, dinner is in a few minutes." Seeing that he wasn't going to fight the boggart-dementor again, Harry complied, finished the chocolate, thought mildly how odd it was to give someone chocolate to eat before their supper, and left the classroom. Lupin, as soon as he knew that Harry was out of earshot, sat down behind the desk.

"Remus Lupin, that was the stupidest, career-threatening thing you could ever do. It might've been on accident but you can't say you didn't want to do it in the first place either," Lupin sighed and stared up at the ceiling. What was he going to do now?

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Red Roses2: Please review. Don't flame. Help is greatly appreciated. 


	3. Embarrassment and an Office

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. And I know more people are reading this. I know three people have this story on their alerts. Why do I have so little reviews? The whole point of this site is critquing and giving your input on peoples' stories. If you're too lazy to do that, why read at all? You don't even have to log-in, for Heaven's sake! I'll end my rant now. Report OOC-ness and give constructive criticism. Flames will be used to burn Wormtail to a crisp.

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Chapter Two: Embarrassment and an Office

Lupin knew that Harry hadn't told Ron and Hermione anything wrong that happened in the Dementor lesson. He knew this because Ron and Hermione weren't giving him suspicious, mistrustful looks. Lupin tried to remain calm during the dementor lessons, but it wasn't as easy as it sounds. It seemed that Harry never buttoned those top buttons. Dreams weren't helping either.

He's James and Lily's son! What would James do if he knew one of his best friends was lusting after his son? I know what Lily would do. She'd hex me to the far end of the universe. Then she'd make sure I couldn't do anything to her baby. Lupin sat in his office on the Halloween weekend, also the Hogsmeade weekend. The only thing he had to entertain himself was his thoughts because he couldn't pick up a book and read it anymore. He had to think of Harry. Most of the time he was either forcing himself not to think of Harry because he had classes to teach, thinking about Harry in a way that would make Lily use the Killing Curse on him, or thinking of what James and Lily would do to him if they were alive and knew. He'd probably already tell James about this by now and wouldn't have needed to wonder what would happen because it would be already happening. It was horrible. Lupin continuously told himself that he should know better. It just wasn't helping very much.

The full moon was only a few days away, too. Lupin wasn't having a good time teaching, that was certain. Lupin decided he should go for a walk so he wasn't stuck in the office all day. He opened the office door and stepped out of it when Harry rounded the corner.

"Hello, Professor," Harry greeted. His usually pale face turned a light pink.

"Hello, Harry," Lupin replied. "Why aren't you at Hogsmeade?"

"My uncle didn't sign my form," Harry answered honestly. Lupin bit his lip.

"Would you like to have a cup of tea?" he asked. Harry blinked in surprise.

"Sure." Lupin stepped back into his office with his guest. Harry sat in the chair on the opposite of the desk. Lupin started making the tea.

"I only have tea bags, but I think you've had enough tea leaves." Harry looked up at him. "Professor McGonagall told me." Lupin set two cups on the desk, conjured hot water and set the tea bags in the cups. Lupin sat in his desk.

"Professor," Harry started, tea cup in his hands. He had that uncertain look again that made him look so cute. "I was wondering about . . . about . . ." He glanced up at Lupin then at his cup. "about what happened in our first dementor lesson." Lupin tried not to choke on the tea.

"It was an accident, I swear," Lupin said immediately. Harry looked back up at him. His face turned a darker shade of pink. He put the tea cup aside and stood up. Lupin could hear him gulp. What happened next, Lupin didn't even register it until Harry's lips were already locked with his. Lupin gently pushed him away. Harry looked more uncertain than ever before; he was on the desk, and was now red in the face.

"Sorry," Harry mumbled, about to get down. Lupin put a hand on the back of Harry's neck and pulled him in so he could kiss him. Harry opened his mouth a little and Lupin's tongue entered. The professor's arms wrapped themselves around Harry's body. The boy groaned.

Lupin for once didn't wonder what James's and Lily's reactions would be. He didn't remind himself that what he was doing was wrong. He enjoyed feeling Harry's body and tasting his mouth and being this close to him. It was only when he realized he needed to breath that he stopped. He pulled away from Harry and opened his eyes. His eyes widened in horror when he saw who was standing in the doorway. Snape stood there, shocked, with the Wolfsbane Potion in his hand. Harry turned around and took a sharp intake of breath.

Snape's shocked expression quickly turned to one of anger. "Potter, get out. Now." Harry got off the desk and left the room, sparing a glance at Lupin before Snape shut the door with a bang behind him. Lupin stood up.

"I told Dumbledore it was a bad idea to have you around. I was thinking that you'd bring Black into the castle, but this – you're less loyal than I thought," Snape said, practically banging the potion onto the desk. "Taking advantage of students, that's an all-time low, you filthy-minded werewolf!"

"Severus," Lupin was about to say let me explain but decided against it. "you can't tell."

"And why can't I!" Snape speedily made a U-turn toward the door.

"I'll tell everyone about who tortured you back in school." Snape stopped his hand's advance to the doorknob. "I wonder what the students would think about their dominating, strict professor after they hear that James Potter and Sirius Black could easily make a fool of him." Lupin knew what he was saying he would do was just plain cruel and he wouldn't really do it because he wasn't that mean but as long as Snape didn't go and tell Dumbledore or worse, the Ministry, then it was worth it. "But if you and I pretend that what you saw here in this office today was nothing at all, you keep making the Wolfsbane Potion, I keep my werewolf-ness to myself, and I'll keep all that information secret from the children."

Snape looked like he dearly wished he had put poison instead of Wolfsbane Potion into the goblet. His mouth had almost become invisible because it was such a thin line. It was a very good Professor McGonagall impression. "Fine," Snape replied after much thought. "Fine." Snape opened the door, walked out, and slammed it behind him. Lupin sat back down into his desk and drank the Wolfsbane Potion. He just remembered. He had spent so much time worrying about what Lily and James would do if they were alive to think about what Harry would think of a werewolf. How stupid does someone have to be to forget about something like that? Lupin made a face as he swallowed the last of the potion then rid his mouth of the taste with his cup of tea.

Dinner was an odd affair that evening. Lupin and Snape talked to no one and were stuck sitting next to each other. Determined not to look at the other, they kept their gazes elsewhere. Lupin noticed that Harry seemed to be enjoying himself at the Gryffindor table. Ron and Hermione looked like they were telling him all about the Hogsmeade weekend and Harry hadn't said a word about making out with a thirty-three-year-old man. Harry glanced up at the staff table, turned a light pink when he met Lupin's eyes, and looked back at Hermione.

Harry said something that almost made Lupin's heart stop. He couldn't hear it obviously, but werewolves were gifted with very good sight, even in old age, so Lupin could make out what Harry said by the way his lips moved. He was pretty sure he said, "Hermione, do you know anything about werewolves?"

Bloody hell! He already knew! Lupin continued to watch the conversation.

"Not really. Why?"

"Professor Lupin hinted that it might be a subject we'll be learning about soon and I just wanted to get a head start." God, Harry was good at making up excuses. He wasn't very convincing-looking, but Hermione bought it anyway.

"Well, we can all go to the library and find out more about them. Hear that, Ron? Ron, have you even been listening?"

"Huh?" Ron asked, his mouth full of food. Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust while Harry laughed. James's son looked up at the staff table again and mouthed "We'll talk about it later" to his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

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Red Roses2: Review please. No flames, constructive criticism will be praised on a pedestal. Praise may not be helpful, however. I know I think of good stories. It's how I write it that counts. 


	4. Dealing with Snape

Chapter Three: Dealing with Snape

Lupin entered the classroom after the full moon night and was surprised to see Harry already in class.

"Good afternoon, Professor," Harry greeted, smiling.

"Hello, Harry. What are you doing here . . ." Lupin checked his watch. "twenty minutes early? Lunch can't be over yet, can it?"

"It's not. I just wanted to make sure you were okay from last night." He reminded him that he knew that he was a werewolf.

"Oh. Right. That." Lupin sat himself down in Ron's chair so they could keep their voices down. "Harry," Lupin began but immediately shut up because Harry kissed him on the lips.

"Before you go blabbering your mouth off," Harry said, "I just want you to know that I don't care that you're a werewolf." Lupin let out the breath he had been holding in relief.

"How'd you find out?"

"Snape's loud when he yells, let's just say that. And that it was a good thing I was the only one in the first few hallways."

"It's Professor Snape, Harry," Lupin corrected.

"At least I didn't call him a (Lupin couldn't help but wonder where he learned that word from) like Ron did after he got detention yesterday. Just a heads-up, everyone's going to start complaining about it."

"Thank you." Lupin surveyed Harry for a few moments. He still didn't have the top buttons buttoned. His tie didn't resemble a tie anymore, mainly because he wasn't wearing it right, and he looked like he had something on his mind. Lupin, knowing how his mind seemed to wander in class whenever he looked at Harry, decided he wasn't going to make that any easier. Lupin unexpectedly buttoned up the rest of Harry's shirt and tied Harry's tie. Harry gave him a confused look. "That's so I can actually concentrate on what I'm supposed to be teaching." Harry blushed.

"How many more minutes do we have until class starts?" the boy asked.

"Seventeen." The professor was about to ask why but watching Harry's face gain more color pretty much told him what he was thinking. Lupin pulled Harry closer and kissed him. For several minutes, making out was the only thing that was happening in the classroom. When the two parted, Lupin looked at where his hands were. They were a little too close to Harry's bum. Quickly, the adult withdrew his hands and started to think maybe Snape was right about the whole "filthy-minded werewolf" thing.

Harry acted like he hadn't noticed where his teacher's hands were just a nanosecond ago. Lupin got up and reached his desk just in time because right when he sat back down, the rest of the students entered. As soon as the others were seated, there was a flurry of complaints and insults toward Snape.

"We told him we hadn't studied werewolves!"

"He just wouldn't listen!"

"He gave us two rolls of parchment!"

Lupin nodded slightly to show that he was listening. "Okay, since everyone is obviously upset, would any of you care to tell me what happened exactly?" Hermione raised her hand. "Go ahead, Hermione."

"First, Professor Snape walked in and started ridiculing your way of teaching. He said that you weren't very good at keeping your class plans together, mumbled something about you being too busy with shagging to keep track, and started us on werewolves." Lupin determinedly kept his eyes off of Harry because he already knew how he must look by now.

"That's what he mumbled?" Ron asked incredulously. "I thought it had something to do with rabbits." All eyes were on Lupin.

"Professor Snape mustn't of had a very good week or he wouldn't have made such an accusation like that – which he has no proof of or is even positive about – in front of students." He hoped that was a good enough cover because he would just completely embarrass himself (and Harry) if he tried to explain more bluntly.

"My thoughts exactly," Hermione agreed. "Anyway, as he was questioning what we already knew on werewolves, he kept on making all of these hints that werewolves were sexually dangerous when they're in human form." Lupin still kept his gaze off of Harry and tried to act as though this didn't unnerve him in the least. "He also weaved that idea into the facts that were in the book. Is it true that werewolves are sex offenders?" Lupin sat there for a moment.

"Depends on who the werewolf is, I suppose," Lupin answered, trying not to sound like he knew what he was talking about. "I haven't met every werewolf on the planet, but I can assure you that most werewolves keep their distance from wizards and witches in human form because they're ridiculed, looked down upon, and – for the most part – feared 24/7 by most of the wizarding world. Muggles, because they don't know that werewolves exist, are therefore much more tolerable. If they avoid a werewolf, it is simply because he is a sex offender, murderer, or a dangerous person in general even before he became a werewolf." Seamus raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Since you know so much about them, does that mean you know one?"

Damn it! "I know the same one that Professor Snape does."

"Is he or she a sex offender?" Lavender asked.

"No. Professor Snape just thinks he is."

"Why?" Ron questioned. Lupin tried to act as though these questions weren't killing him.

"Because Professor Snape stumbled upon something he was doing with someone younger than him by many years that was a bit suggestive. Now, moving on to hinky-punks!"

That had been the most nerve-breaking class ever in the history of Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts classes! It had to be! Nothing could have been worse than to have your third-year class ask you if all werewolves were perverts who went after children when you were making out with one of them only minutes ago!

Lupin drank his green tea as he sat in the teacher's lounge with McGonagall and Flitwick. McGonagall noticed how stressed Lupin looked. "Remus, are you alright?" Lupin nodded, not trusting himself to speak. "Are you sure? Ms. Granger came to me earlier to get a bit more information about werewolves. She must have discovered what you are or else she wouldn't have asked. Her questions were centered on the subject of -"

"Yes, I know, the whole class told me," Lupin admitted, sinking lower into his chair. "The rest don't know I'm a werewolf though – except Harry, he must be like his father in that respect." He decided he might as well tell her that in case he slipped something.

"Well, is there a reason why Severus thinks that you of all people would . . . you know," This was the only time that Professor McGonagall had ever used a vague description. Lupin shrugged, still not trusting his voice. At that moment, Snape walked in with his mouth as a thin line and his dark eyes glowering loathingly. He could only make out a few words in front of McGonagall and Flitwick.

"Lupin – my office – now."

Having no idea what it was about this time, Lupin willingly left the teacher's lounge, walked all the way down to the dungeons, and sat himself down in Snape's office. Snape wasted no time in telling him what was wrong.

"If snogging students is your way of torturing someone, you're probably ecstatic because it WORKS!" Snape bellowed. "I'm having nightmares now thanks to you!" Snape had obviously cracked because he was actually telling someone about this. "It's your fault, now FIX IT!" Snape sat exhaustedly in his chair, seething. Lupin sat there, staring at him.

"I'm sorry. There are only sleeping draughts that can keep nightmares away so I can't. One: I'm a horrible potion brewer so I'd end up poisoning you, probably. Two: They're addictive just like Muggle sleeping pills. And three: I apologize for your barging in like that, but I had no control over it."

Snape glared daggers at him. There was silence in the office for five whole minutes. Lupin wondered whether it was okay for him to leave now.

"Why?" Snape asked suddenly.

"Why what?"

"You know exactly what! Why Potter! Why a thirteen-year-old boy! Why an ignorant, arrogant, stubborn, thick-headed child! Black not good enough for you?" Snape stood up. "If I have to pick between two hates to keep, I pick Potter! Meaning if I see your perverted hands on him again, I'll tear you limb from limb, hear me!"

Lupin stood up as well, hand clamped around his wand. "Yes, I hear you loud and clear, Severus."

Snape breathed heavily. "Get out."

"Gladly." Lupin turned on his heel and left the Potions master's office. "Well, Remus, looks like you've gotten yourself into deep trouble." 


	5. Talking and Troublemaking

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Thank you for reviewing, and yes, I'm mad. Get used to it. This chapter may reek of fluffiness that'll make you puke, though.

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Chapter Four: Talking and Troublemaking

"I know," said Ron, controlling himself. "I know who it could've been – Lupin!"

"What?" Harry said, going a little pink. "No way."

"Yeah, but he likes you!" You have no idea how much, Ron. "And he was away when your Nimbus got smashed, and he might've heard about it and decided to visit Diagon Alley and get this for you -"

"I . . ." Harry trailed off, wondering whether he should be thinking this about Professor Lupin. "I don't think he has enough money to buy this."

Harry couldn't help but blush and laugh at the same time at breakfast. Snape acted very strange at the table. Every time he'd look at Harry, his face would go from its yellowish color to white in a matter of seconds, he'd turn away, and after a few seconds, he'd ask to be excused and run out of the Great Hall. Harry assumed it was to vomit because of what Snape had seen on Halloween.

"Harry, why does Snape keep doing that whenever he looks at you?" Ron asked curiously as Snape ran out for the sixth time. Harry tried to stop laughing long enough so he could actually answer.

"I – don't – know," Harry lied, laughing in between words. "But it's – pretty funny – to watch!" When Snape came back, Harry had successfully stopped laughing. Harry wondered what would happen if Professor Lupin were there.

When classes started up again and Divination began with palmistry, Professor Trelawney looked surprised at Harry's love line. "I haven't seen a love line this strong since . . . ." Professor Trelawney attempted to remember. Ron snorted. "I assume you're dating already? I see a long a life as fate will allow with someone older than you." Blushing furiously, Harry pulled his hand away from her. Ron held back his laughter until they were out of class.

"Dating already – sure you are, you're dating Moaning Myrtle!" Ron laughed some more.

"Shut up!" Harry said, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Ron, just because you're not interested in girls yet doesn't mean Harry's not," Hermione commented suddenly. It seemed that Hermione only said that to make Ron angry. Harry turned another shade of red.

"Can we drop this subject?"

Defense Against the Dark Arts was much better than Divination because of the single fact that there was no talk about dating and love lines.

"Still looks ill, doesn't he?" whispered Ron as he and Harry stood up from their desks.

"Sure. Mind if I catch up with you later? I have to ask Professor Lupin something," Harry replied.

"Okay." Ron looked at him like he was crazy, but left anyway. Harry walked up to Lupin's desk.

"You alright?" Harry asked his professor as he took a seat on Lupin's desk.

"Yes, I'm fine. I've looked worse after a full moon," Lupin informed. "Are you?"

"Sort of," Harry said truthfully.

"What's wrong?"

"It's kind of stupid."

"Come on, Harry."

"Alright, I'll tell you." Harry didn't think he could keep anything from him. "Well, for Christmas I got a Firebolt from someone – there wasn't a note – and Hermione, because she thought that it was from Sirius Black, went and told Professor McGonagall, Professor McGonagall confiscated it and it's now being stripped down because they're looking for jinxes, and Ron and I aren't talking to Hermione because she did that." Harry felt like a selfish brat after saying all of that. "I know she's just looking out for me, but . . . ."

"Hm. Sounds like something your mother would have an argument over when she was your age."

Harry looked at him, surprised.

"Really, it is. She used to have all sorts of arguments with her friends over inanimate objects."

"You knew my mum?"

"And your father. Even though Lily never owned a broom, she owned a lot of other things that she'd freak out about having taken away or broken." Lupin smiled fondly. "How long has this been going on?"

"Since Christmas."

"As long as Lily's grudges, too." Harry never knew that he had something other than his green eyes from his mother. "But you should really talk it out with her. You know she only did it because she cares about you." Harry had never thought of it that way.

"Thanks, Professor. Are we still up for Thursday evening?"

"For dementor lessons or the other?"

"Both if you want." Lupin's cheeks became tinged with pink.

"Yeah, that's still in our schedule." Lupin lightly kissed Harry on the lips. "You better get to lunch before Ron wonders what's happened to you." Harry smiled at him, gave him a small kiss on the cheek, and hurried to the Great Hall.

During lunch, Harry and Hermione made up but Ron wasn't going to forgive her that easily. Angered by this, Hermione avoided Ron as much as possible. Since Harry had Dementor lessons, 'other' stuff, and Quidditch, it was fairly easy for her to hang around Harry and not Ron at the same time.

Hermione had been thinking. After she and Harry made up, Harry accidentally called Professor Lupin by his first name. It could've been a slip up, but . . . Professor Lupin and Harry sure have been spending a lot of time together. No! Professor Lupin wouldn't do that! He's too nice! A little too nice . . . no, no, he is NOT dating Harry! He can't be! He's responsible and trustworthy! He wouldn't take advantage of Harry! Would he? Hermione thought as she did her work. Dismayed, she finished her Arithmancy and picked up her next book. She opened it up, began to read, and realized it wasn't her Ancient Runes book. It was a romance novel involving a sixty-year-old man lusting after a fifteen-year-old girl. Hermione screamed, scaring everyone around her. She threw the book over her head and the back of her chair and hyperventilated for a few minutes.

"Who did that?" Hermione shouted, standing up. "Who snuck that awful, inappropriate book into my bag?"

"So sorry you didn't like it, Hermione," Fred said in mock disappointment. "George and I thought you'd like something else to read."

"THAT BOOK HAD AN OLD MAN GOING AFTER A TEENAGED GIRL! THAT WAS THE MOST LOW, EVIL PRANK YOU COULD EVER DO TO SOMEONE YOU DON'T EVEN HATE!" Hermione shrieked. She whipped out her wand and started hexing them.

Harry sneaked his way to where the book lay, hid it in his bag, and moved away from the spot before anyone noticed him there. He snuck up to the dormitory, hid behind the curtains of his four-poster and began to read.

As the months rolled by, Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw coming soon, Harry became more and more frustrated with himself that he couldn't produce a Patronus correctly. His silvery mist seemed to be taking the form of some four-legged animal, but it was impossible to tell which animal it was, therefore it still being indistinct.

"You're expecting too much of yourself, Harry," Lupin said, handing Harry some chocolate after his three-hundred-sixty-fifth try. "Most wizards can't even conjure an indistinct patronus. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I've been at this for months now!" Harry said angrily. "I should be able to do it by now! It's Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw soon and if the dementors show up again like they did last time -" Harry blushed shamefully. Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Oliver Wood barged it. Lupin quickly removed his hand from Harry's shoulder.

"Hi, Harry, Professor Lupin. Just thought I'd drop in and see how the lessons are going," Wood greeted. Wood sat down in a chair. "So, you able to create an anti-dementor yet, Harry?"

"Almost," Lupin answered for Harry. "He possibly might be able to do it by the time the next Quidditch match comes." Wood's face broke into a grin.

"Excellent! Sorry to interrupt. Keep it up, Harry!" Wood then left. Harry ate his chocolate quietly.

"Do you really think I can do it by that time?" Harry asked, looking up at his professor.

"You probably can but don't be upset if you don't. You've learned more in a few months about a Patronus than most people do in years." Lupin smiled encouragingly at his student. "Just as a matter of interest, what do you think of when you're conjuring the Patronus?" Harry's cheeks turned pink.

"Kissing you," Harry said honestly. Lupin blushed.

"You really think that snogging a thirty-three-year-old man is really that nice?" Lupin watched as Harry turned a bright red.

"Depends. If it was Snape, it would be a nightmare." Harry received a laugh from Lupin.

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Whatever."

Harry landed on the ground, ecstatic. He conjured a Patronus! He didn't get to see what it looked like, but he did it! Harry could see through the gap of the Gryffindor team hug that Lupin was coming down onto the field. Harry broke free and ran over to him.

"I did it, Professor! I did it! And they didn't affect me at all!" Harry exclaimed happily. Lupin smiled at him, not wanting to wipe the grin off of his face.

"That would be because they – er – weren't dementors," said Lupin. "Come and see." Lupin watched as Harry's grin faded as he showed him the edge of the field. "You gave Mr. Malfoy quite a fright." Lupin watched Harry as he watched Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle disentangle themselves from their robes. Harry's mouth deformed into a disappointed frown. He hadn't scared away a dementor. Lupin then looked at the three Slytherins. He did his best to act indifferent in front of hundreds of students and several teachers, but he apparently still glared daggers at them because Malfoy caught a glimpse of the werewolf and the remaining color in his face disappeared. The blonde looked like he wanted to say, "Help me!"

"Come on, Harry! Party in Gryffindor Tower!" George called over from where the rest of the team stood.

"I'll catch up!" Harry shouted back. Thinking nothing of it, everyone left the Quidditch pitch except Professor Lupin and Harry. "Stupid Malfoy." Harry couldn't help but say. Lupin laughed.

"It was still a very good Patronus," Lupin comforted. Harry's mouth twitched upward. Unexpectedly, Lupin started tickling Harry. Harry burst out laughing.

"Pro – Professor L-Lupin! Cut – it – out!" Harry said between laughs. His hands felt warm.

"That's better," Lupin said when he was finished. "You look even more handsome when you smile." Harry blushed at the compliment.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you consider us, you know, boyfriends?" Lupin thought about the question for a nanosecond before he realized he didn't need to think about it.

"Yes," he said before locking his lips with Harry's. Harry groaned contently and wrapped his arms around Lupin's neck. Harry noted that his teacher's mouth seemed to taste like chocolate constantly. Harry suddenly remembered the book he took from Hermione. If – if that's what he wants . . . . Harry thought. He moved his hands down to his Quidditch uniform and started to undo his shirt. Lupin felt the movement of Harry's hands against his chest and broke the kiss. He glanced at Harry's almost completely unbuttoned shirt then up at Harry.

"Harry," Lupin said in a worried tone, "why are you . . . ?" It dawned on him. "Has someone been telling you that someone like me would want to . . . ? What have you been reading?" Embarrassed, Harry re-buttoned up his shirt. Harry, you stupid boy! the Boy-Who-Lived thought. "Harry?"

"I – I accidentally stumbled upon this book," Harry answered, mostly telling the truth, "and – well – it was about two people with a big age difference who were – you know . . . ." Harry trailed off, not sure whether Lupin wanted to hear this. "Are you mad?" Lupin shook his head.

"No." Lupin didn't add that he was worried. Thirteen-year-old boys weren't supposed to be thinking of doing that in a Quidditch pitch with his professor. "But why did you think that I would want to take your virginity away from you when you're, well, underage?" Harry bit his lip.

"I just want to make you happy," Harry whispered. If it weren't for Lupin's werewolf ears, he wouldn't have heard it. Lupin kissed him again.

"Harry, I haven't been this happy since your parents were still alive. Just being with you is enough."

When Harry finally did arrive, only Hermione asked him what took him so long. Harry was spared making up an excuse by Wood coming over and dragging him over to the other side of the Common Room so the whole team could toast to Harry's spectacular performance. Ron still refused to speak to Hermione and made a very loud comment about cats and rats that caused her to flee up the girls' dormitory stairs. Harry gave him a disapproving look.

"Ron, can't you give her a break?"

"No," Ron said definitely. Harry began to wonder what Ron would say about him and Lupin if Ron was making so much fuss over a rat. Harry understood that Ron cared, but Hermione couldn't control what Crookshanks did.

"Come on, Harry! It'll be fun!"

"Ron, he can't go to Hogsmeade! How can you let him go after what he almost did to you? Harry, if you go, I'll tell!"

"So now you're trying to get Harry expelled? Haven't you done enough damage for one year?"

Upset, Hermione stormed off. Harry thought about Hermione and how it wouldn't be a good idea to have her angry with him again, and he thought about Lupin. Harry doubted he would be impressed by sneaking out of the castle to go to Hogsmeade. Besides, he had a date with him later and if he missed that or if he was late, what would he do then?

"So how 'bout it?" Ron asked. Harry sat there, dismayed.

"Okay, but I'm taking the Invisibility Cloak."

"Lupin! I want a word!" Snape said into the fire. Lupin stepped out of the fire, saw Harry, looked at Snape and back again. Snape shoved the map under Lupin's nose. "Well?" Lupin showed a second-long expression of recognition before he covered it with an expression of indifference. "Well, what is it? It's clearly full of Dark magic. It's supposed to be your area of expertise."

"I doubt it has Dark magic, Severus, but -" Lupin kept it out of Snape's grasp by pulling the map closer to him. "I'll keep it and make sure of it."

"Where do you think Potter got such a thing?" Snape asked instead, glaring daggers at Lupin. Lupin glared back.

"Probably from Zonko's." Right at that moment, Ron came bursting in.

"I – gave that – to Harry – ages ago. Bought it – at – Zonko's." Ron panted, clutching a stitch in his side.

"That explains it, I think, Severus," Lupin said, sticking the map into his back pocket. They didn't dare take their eyes off of each other. Lupin knew by the way he looked that he was close to cracking. Please don't crack in front of Ron. Please don't crack in front of Ron. "Harry, Ron, will you come with me, please?" Lupin said as an excuse to leave as soon as possible. The three of them left Snape's office.

As they walked down the halls, Harry dared to say something. "Professor, I -"

"I don't want to hear any excuses," Lupin said shortly and a little more coldly than he wanted to. Harry kept his head down in case any sign of being hurt showed. They stopped; Lupin looked around and lowered his voice. "I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch years ago – yes, I know it's a map. Now, I don't know how this fell into your possession, but I am astounded that you did not turn it in. Did you happen to think that this map in the hands of Sirius Black is a map to you, Harry?" Harry shook his head, not looking up. "Well, one would think that you would at least think about how gambling your parents' sacrifice would repay them, especially since you keep hearing their voices every time a dementor comes near you." Harry determinedly refused to look up at his professor. "Ron, would you care to give us a few minutes alone?" Ron nodded and, without any thoughts about Lupin having ulterior motives, left the hallway but lingered in the next few to wait for Harry. Lupin knelt down on one knee. "Harry, look at me." A normal wizard wouldn't have been able to see the slight shake of Harry's head. "Look at me." Lupin put a hand under Harry's chin and lifted his head up. Lupin frowned at the upset look on Harry's face.

"I'm sorry – I didn't think -" Harry started, but Lupin kissed him passionately on the lips. The tears Harry had held back while Lupin reprimanded him fell down his cheeks.

"I know you're only thirteen," Lupin said when he pulled away, "but don't do anything stupid like that again, alright? If anything happened to you . . . ." He didn't finish his sentence. Instead he kissed him again. "Just don't do that again."

"I promise."

-

Red Roses2: Review, comment, hell, you can flame, I don't care. This one stunk of fluff, right? The older Harry gets, the more dark, brooding troubles he'll have, though. 


	6. Explaining

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Thank you for reviewing. Tell me when this story has so much fluff that you want to vomit.

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Chapter Five: Explaining

Lupin rushed into the room in the Shrieking Shack. For a split second he saw Sirius give Harry a kick in the stomach and, in the corner of his eye, Harry's wand fly into a corner. Sirius turned to see who was at the door. Hermione tugged at Harry's shirt so she could move him farther from Sirius.

"Sirius."

"Remus."

"Is it really - ?"

"Yes."

"Then you - ?"

"No."

"Where - ?"

"Over there." Sirius jerked his head in Ron's direction. Lupin's eyes landed on Scabbers for a nanosecond then looked back at Sirius.

"Professor, what's going on?" Harry asked, confused. Lupin glanced at Harry then helped Sirius up off of the ground.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" Hermione yelled, the feeling of betrayal ringing in her voice. "EVEN AFTER I FOUND OUT YOU WERE A WEREWOLF! And all this time, you've BEEN HIS FRIEND!"

"Hermione!" Harry said. "He has to have a good reason!"

"Harry, how can you defend him? When he's helping Black?" Hermione shouted.

"Because he's my boyfriend!" Harry yelled back. When he realized what he had said, he covered his mouth. His brain had turned numb from the surprise of Lupin helping Sirius that he hadn't been able to think clearly until just then. Hermione and Ron stared at him. Sirius looked at Lupin, shocked, then at Harry, then back again.

"W-what?" Ron asked. "I'm fairly certain I heard you wrong, mate. I thought you just said Professor Lupin was your boyfriend." There wasn't any denying it now.

"That's exactly what I said," Harry admitted, feeling extremely stupid.

"But -" Hermione stuttered. "But Professor Snape – what he said about werewolves and children -" She turned her gaze onto Lupin. She seemed at a loss of words. Her speculations had been right. Sirius stayed quiet.

Ron found his voice. "Bloody hell! What the hell have you been doing to him?" Ron turned an accusing look at Lupin. "And – crap, I actually willingly left you alone with him! Twice!"

"Ron, shut up!" Harry shouted. "Just shut up! We can talk about that later!"

"You've been taking advantage of him." Hermione gasped.

"NO, HE HASN'T! HE HASN'T DONE ANYTHING TO ME! JUST LISTEN TO HIM!" There was an unnerving silence in the room. Suddenly, at that moment, Snape appeared in the doorway, wand pointed at Sirius and Lupin.

"By the sound of Potter yelling, it's obvious what you've been up to all year, Lupin," Snape muttered. "You've convinced him that you won't let him be hurt in the least. That's how you lured him and his friends in here in the first place, I presume?" Lupin opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. "Very witty, using a thirteen-year-old child who doesn't know any better to help your old friend kill him. I suppose you also had a lot of fun toying with him and stripping him of his virginity!"

Harry blushed crimson. Hermione's and Ron's mouths dropped. Sirius's eyes widened and he looked at Lupin, shocked. Lupin was just as embarrassed as Harry.

"Severus, you have jumped to the completely wrong conclusion on more than one level," Lupin said, his fists trembling.

"Sure, I have," Snape replied sarcastically. He suddenly had a manic look in his eye. "Only one problem with your statement, Lupin, it fits you. It's something you'd most likely do, you manipulating, filthy-minded, contaminated bastard!"

"EXPELLIARMUS!" shouted Harry suddenly. Snape found himself being thrown against the wall, hitting his head, and falling unconscious. Everything that was happening right then was all so mind-boggling that Hermione and Ron didn't say anything in horrified surprise. Harry lowered his wand and looked at Lupin. "Explain. Now." The boy's whole frame trembled and, even though Lupin wasn't a mind reader, he could still tell that a small part of him was a bit doubtful of his professor's intentions now.

"Of course," Lupin said. "Sirius, you will have to help with some of the details." Sirius pretended like he hadn't heard his remaining best friend being accused of taking advantage of his godson and grunted. "Ask away, Harry." As he said this, he stuck his wand back into his belt. Harry seemed torn between lots of questions.

"How did you know we were down here?"

"The map. I was studying it in my office when the four of you got down here."

"You know how to work it?"

"Seeing that I'm one of its writers, yes."

"You are?"

"Yes. Moony was my nickname at school. Sirius was Padfoot, Peter Pettigrew was Wormtail, and your father was Prongs."

"Wait, you knew Harry's dad?" Ron asked incredulously. "And you still -"

"We'll talk about that later!" Harry hissed at him.

"Anyway," Lupin continued, "what confused me was the fifth person on the map." Harry seemed confused. He quickly counted how many people had gone into the Shrieking Shack while Lupin was watching the map. He only counted four. "Do you have an idea of who that fifth person was?" Harry shook his head. "The marauder who could turn into a rat. Sirius, obviously, turns into a dog. Your father used to turn into a stag, so the rat must be . . . ."

"Peter Pettigrew?" Harry said.

"Peter Pettigrew? He's dead!" Ron interjected. "You're mental!" Ron soon regretted calling Lupin that when he noticed Harry's glare.

"Now, Sirius, this is where you'll have to explain some because I was obviously in the dark about this." Sirius grunted again.

"Fine, fine, but you have to explain everything about what you've been doing with my godson because one: I had absolutely no idea you fancied men twenty years younger than you, and two: I'm not believing anything if it comes out of Snape's mouth," Sirius muttered. "Okay, because James and I wanted to be there for Remus when he transformed and because Peter never wanted to be left out, the three of us all became Animagi. We didn't register ourselves Animagi and now that I'm on the run, I'm sure glad I didn't, but I very much wish Peter had or else they would have known that that traitor was that boy's rat for twelve years!" Sirius raised his voice when he said the last part about Pettigrew.

"How do you know that this is Pettigrew and not some other rat?" Harry asked Sirius this time. Sirius looked at his godson and sighed.

"I had managed to get my hands on a newspaper and on the front page was this boy and his family. Pettigrew was sitting on his shoulder. I could tell it was him because not only had I seen him transform a thousand times at school, he was missing a toe."

"What's that got to do with it?" Ron asked, keeping Scabbers far away from Sirius as he could.

"All they could find of Pettigrew was his finger." Harry answered for Sirius.

"Right," Sirius said. "He cut it off so everyone would think that I blew him up with a spell."

"So? Scabbers probably got into a fight with some other rat and lost it. That doesn't mean that he's Pettigrew!"

"How 'bout I prove it, then?" Sirius suggested harshly, taking a step forward. Harry pointed his wand at him. Lupin, sure that Harry would jinx Sirius if he got too close to Ron, walked over to Ron.

"If you would give us the rat, we'll be able to show you. Don't worry, if he's really a rat, it won't hurt him," Lupin coaxed. Ron sent a glance at Harry. Harry nodded. Reluctantly, Ron handed Lupin Scabbers. The werewolf then stepped back, pointed his wand at the rat, and in a few flashes of light, Scabbers was no longer there. Lupin let go of the scruff of a fully-grown man's shirt. "Hello, Peter." Abruptly, Sirius lunged at Peter and tried to strangle him. "SIRIUS!" Lupin pulled Sirius off of him. "The stupidest thing you can do right now is kill the man you were imprisoned for killing in the first place in front of three students who still believe you to be untrustworthy!"

"That doesn't mean Black's innocent!" Harry announced. "All that means is that Pettigrew's been hiding from him! How do you explain not being the one who betrayed my parents – who attempted to murder Pettigrew – if you were my parents' Secret Keeper?"

"That's a good question, Sirius," Lupin admitted.

Sirius growled, "I convinced James to let me switch places with him. Thought it was a good plan – make the one he'd never suspect the Secret Keeper. Bet that was the greatest moment in your life, Peter, giving away James, Lily and Harry's whereabouts to Voldemort!" Peter cringed as did Ron and Hermione.

As they walked down the tunnel, Pettigrew handcuffed to Lupin, Ron and Hermione started bringing up the subject of Harry and Lupin again.

"Exactly how long has this been going?" Hermione asked.

"Was Snape right about the whole . . . thing?" Ron questioned.

"Professor Snape's wrong about you not being a virgin anymore, right?"

"I still can't believe we let you be alone with him."

"I can hear you, you know," Lupin commented loudly.

"Okay, in order: Halloween, he was wrong, and yes, he's wrong about that, too," Harry said. Sirius let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I thought I'd have to murder my remaining best friend." Sirius said. Lupin laughed nervously.

"He's kept his hands to himself, right?" Hermione asked, unable to contain herself.

"Yes, he has," Harry assured her. Hermione nodded. There was no sound other than the whimpering of Pettigrew for two whole minutes.

"Exactly how did you become a forty-year-old man's boyfriend?" Hermione blurted out. Sirius burst out laughing.

"I'm thirty-three!" Lupin said. Harry chuckled a little.

"Oh, right. A thirty-three-year-old man's boyfriend?" Hermione corrected herself. Harry shrugged.

"When you have a boyfriend, you can tell me," Harry replied. Hermione raised an eyebrow in confusion, then it dawned on her.

"Oh, so it just happened?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Okay. Just wanted to make sure he didn't seduce you or anything."

"I just thought of something," Ron said abruptly. "How did Snape know?" Harry and Lupin exchanged looks, glanced at the unconscious Snape floating in the air and grinned.

"Well, it's a kind of funny story, actually," Harry commented.

"Especially since he's having nightmares," Lupin added. Lupin told the story about the Halloween event. By the end of it, Sirius and Ron were practically rolling with laughter. "Let's just say he should have knocked and waited for an answer."

They finally exited the tunnel and into the night. Ron and Sirius were still laughing. Hermione tried not to show her amusement of hearing Snape's torture. They walked across the grounds until Lupin stopped suddenly.

"Professor, what is it?" Harry asked. Hermione gasped and pointed up to the sky. It was a full moon.

"He hasn't taken his potion tonight!" Hermione stated.

"RUN!" Sirius shouted at them. Lupin's body trembled. He began to change. His hands turned to paws; his head morphed into a canine's; hair sprouted all over, and his clothes ripped. Sirius transformed into the large black dog and prepared himself. The transformation was complete. He looked nothing like a human now. He looked just like a wolf. Lupin charged at them. Sirius ran up and met him with his teeth barred. Hermione glanced at Pettigrew who had picked up Lupin's wand.

"Expelliarmus!" Hermione cried. "Stay right there!" But Pettigrew transformed and scurried away.

"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran after Pettigrew.

"Harry!" Hermione and Ron called after him. A loud whine caught their attention. Hermione and Ron had a glimpse of Sirius lying wounded on the ground before they realized that the werewolf was going after Harry. "HARRY!" Harry, oblivious to the fact that an untamed werewolf was about to attack him, tripped and tried to feel around in the grass for Pettigrew. He stood up and turned half-way around before he felt a force push him to the ground. Lupin landed on top of him, rows of carnivorous teeth visible in his mouth. Without thinking, Harry pressed his forearm against the werewolf's neck so he wouldn't be bitten easily. Lupin's jaws snapped furiously and his paws clawed at him. Harry winced as his claws cut his cheek. Suddenly, Sirius appeared and tackled Lupin off of Harry. Hermione rushed to Harry's side.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No bites." Harry answered distractedly. Hermione tugged at his sleeve.

"Let's go and get help!" she said. "Sirius will take care of it!"

"HARRY! HERMIONE! LOOK OUT!" Ron yelled from where he sat. Harry and Hermione looked up and saw the dementors approaching towards Sirius. Harry pulled out his wand.

"Expecto Patronum!" Harry shouted. The silvery mist was all that he could produce. "Expecto Patronum!" Nothing more than a mist. "Expecto – expect – expe -" Just as Harry was about to faint, he saw someone far away cast a Patronus. Someone who looked very familiar . . . .

Harry ran into Lupin's office and saw him packing. Lupin looked up at Harry, glanced at the bandages on Harry's face, and kept his eyes on the papers he was gathering. "You – you've really resigned?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Lupin replied. He flicked his wand and everything flew neatly into his trunk.

"Why?"

"Because," Lupin didn't look at Harry at all when he said this. "the letters will be coming soon saying they don't want a werewolf teaching their children and . . . I attacked you."

"You couldn't help it!" Harry exclaimed. "Besides, I should've been paying more attention. I was too busy looking for Pettigrew when he ran away – look, just don't blame yourself! It's not your fault!" Harry could tell Lupin didn't believe him. "D-don't leave me." The werewolf finally looked up at Harry. His green eyes held the feeling of heart-brake. Lupin walked over to him and lifted his chin up.

"I could never leave you," Lupin said definitely and kissed him. "But I'm not putting you in that danger again. Ever. Even if I have to let you go."

"No!" Harry cried, almost begging. "Please, I don't want you to let me go! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me! Please don't!" Tears weld up in Harry's eyes. Don't cry, you idiot. He'll think you're weak if you do and leave you for sure. Harry thought. His tears seemed to have minds of their own because they fell like a waterfall. The boy tried to wipe them all away, but it was futile.

Lupin's heart ached as he watched Harry. No, he couldn't break up with him, not even to protect him. He'd just torture him. Lupin gently grabbed the hand Harry was using to wipe his tears away. He lowered it. Lupin wiped a few of them away for him.

"I don't think I will be able to let you go. Not if I'll hurt you like that." Harry seemed comforted a little by that.

"I'll – I'll see you again, right?" Harry asked.

"Of course."

-

Red Roses2: Review, doesn't matter if you flame, praise, but constructive criticism is what I'm aiming for. Please give feedback. And don't say I'm mad, or mental, or crazy or however else you want to put it. I already know and I don't care. 


	7. The Dursleys

Red Roses2: Ha ha ha! Thought I was going to end it there, didn't you? Or move on to year 5? But it is not to be! Year 4 complications, coming up! Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd live in Great Britian, be extremely rich, and my name would be J.K.Rowling, and this would be the actual story. But it's not, now is it?

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Chapter Six: The Dursleys

Harry and the Dursleys sat at the kitchen table one morning after Harry's fourteenth birthday. The phone rang and Uncle Vernon picked it up.

"Hello?" Uncle Vernon said. Uncle Vernon's face paled when he heard who it was. "R-right. Boy, it's for you." Harry looked up from his plate. Who would be calling him? Ron hadn't tried again after the incident last summer. Harry took the phone from Uncle Vernon.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Harry." Harry could recognize that voice anywhere.

"Professor Lupin! Hi!" Harry vaguely noted that the Dursleys left the kitchen. Probably to stay far away from the phone at that time.

"You can call me Remus now, Harry," Remus said.

"Okay, Remus. How'd you get this phone number?"

"I know how to use a phonebook. And I knew that your uncle's name was Dursley and that's not a very common name so it was fairly easy. How's your summer been going?"

"Better than the others. I told them that my godfather was a convicted murderer. Neglected to say that he was framed, though." Harry heard Remus chuckle. "You?"

"Fairly good for someone who doesn't have a job. Being a werewolf is always an occupational hazard." Harry frowned. "You don't have to worry about it, though. I'm sure I'll get one eventually."

"Where are you calling from?"

"A Muggle payphone. Don't have a real phone at home."

"Okay." Harry bit his lip.

"You don't have to worry, Harry," Remus repeated. "I heard that the Quidditch World Cup is coming up soon. Will you be going to it?"

"Yeah, if Ron can get tickets. The Weasleys said that if they did, they'd take me with them. It's supposed to be Ireland vs. Bulgaria."

"Ireland has three great Chasers, and Bulgaria has the famous Seeker Viktor Krum. Guessing that Ireland didn't get a new Seeker, it might be a close match. You'll have to tell me about it."

"Okay."

"The time limit on this phone's almost up. I've got to hang up. I'll be coming over to see how well your relatives have been treating you. Lily said her sister was horrible, but I'd like to see for myself. Goodbye, Harry. See you soon."

"'Bye, Remus. I love you." With that Harry hung up, turned around, and saw a horror-stricken Dudley with his pudgy hand an inch away from the refrigerator door. Harry's expression soon mirrored Dudley's.

Remus is a BOY'S name. Dudley thought. "DAD! DAD! HARRY'S GAY! HARRY'S GAY!" In a split second, Harry dashed out of the kitchen and upstairs. If he could just get to his room in time and lock himself in there . . . . Wait, all the locks were on the outside of the door! Harry almost reached his bedroom when he felt Uncle Vernon's fist collide with him. Harry fell to the floor.

"THAT'S THE LAST STRAW!" Uncle Vernon yelled. "I WILL NOT TOLERATE THAT KIND OF ABNORMALITY! NOT NOW, NOT EVER!" He grabbed the front of Harry's shirt, lifted him off of the ground, and began Harry's punishment.

Harry spent the rest of the day in his room, trying to stop his nose from bleeding. He hoped the bruises would go away before Remus arrived. He didn't know what Remus would do. He hadn't seen him furious before. Harry was pretty sure the fact that he was repeatedly beaten by his uncle after the Dursleys found out about his preference would cause Remus to explode. Harry wasn't going to tell Hermione or Ron about this; they were still recovering from the shock of him dating their former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. If Remus found out, he'd probably tell Sirius and Sirius would flip out. Sirius might even walk up to the Dursleys' doorstep and make him pay. Though it sounded like a good idea, Harry didn't want his godfather to get caught.

A few days later and a nose bleed finally cured, the doorbell rang and Harry hurried over to answer it. He stopped in the hallway to look at himself in the mirror. He still had the bruises. He half wished that it wasn't Remus before he opened the door.

"Hi, Remus," Harry greeted shyly, letting the Muggle-clothed werewolf in.

"Good to see you, Harry," Remus replied warmly. He took a good look at Harry's face. "Oh, God, what happened to you?" Remus's hand caressed the boy's face.

"I fell out of bed," Harry lied. Remus gave him a disbelieving look.

"Harry, both Sirius and your father fell out of their beds more than once and never did they ever look like that afterwards." Remus wondered why Harry would lie to him when it dawned on him. "Did your relatives - ?" Feeling defeated, Harry nodded.

"Boy!" Uncle Vernon shouted, obviously still forgetting about Harry's godfather. "What are you doing in there? Get back in here NOW!" Harry reluctantly left the hall and stood in the kitchen doorway. Uncle Vernon fumed and glared. "Who was at the door?"

"His boyfriend," came Remus's voice from right behind Harry. Harry turned around and saw an extremely furious, death-glaring werewolf. Uncle Vernon paled. Aunt Petunia dropped the cantaloupe she had been preparing for Dudley; the fruit exploded into many pieces. Dudley hid under the table in case Harry told that it was because of him that Uncle Vernon found out and beat Harry up. Remus walked over to Uncle Vernon, looking like a powerful god compared to Uncle Vernon's cowering. "If you ever – ever – hurt him again, next full moon I'll tear you limb from limb. Got that?" Uncle Vernon nodded. Abruptly, Aunt Petunia screamed.

"You – you're that werewolf boy she and her husband hung around!" Aunt Petunia gasped. Remus turned to Aunt Petunia.

"Yes, I am. To be honest, I'm astounded that you didn't take good care of Harry. You might not have gotten along with your sister, but he's your flesh and blood! Aside from your son, the only flesh and blood you have!" Remus scolded. "Harry, you said you mentioned Sirius to them?"

"Yes," Harry said. "Uncle Vernon just forgot about him."

This statement refreshed Uncle Vernon's memory and by hearing the name Sirius, he began to stammer, "Your – your godfather is – is Sirius Black?" Harry nodded. Horrified, Uncle Vernon was torn between two instincts: the instinct to turn tail and run and the instinct to stay and protect his wife and son. When Dudley ran out of the room, Uncle Vernon finally lost his nerve and ran out of the kitchen, but not too far away so he could jump in and save Aunt Petunia if necessary. Remus pulled out his wand, waved it around, and the cantaloupe went back into a whole. Remus sat in Uncle Vernon's former chair.

"I'd like to hear about how long you've been treated like this, Harry," Remus said darkly. Harry nervously fidgeted with his sleeve cuff. This wasn't going to end up well. Harry gulped.

"Er – well, uh," Harry began lamely. "Before that, would you like something to drink? I don't know where you live so . . . yeah." God, this is awkward. Harry thought.

"That would be fine," Remus said. Aunt Petunia seemed rooted to the spot until just then. Remus gave her a look that Harry didn't catch and she busied herself with extracting cups from the cabinet. "Tea if you have it." In no time at all, Aunt Petunia had fixed Remus a cup of hot tea and Harry sat down in a chair with a cup of his own. Aunt Petunia stood in the corner, too frightened to leave the room. "Begin."

"Er, I guess it started when that vase broke when I was three," Harry started and, with giving Remus apprehensive looks occasionally, told Remus everything that he could remember from his childhood. Most of it was beatings. Remus sent Aunt Petunia a glare whenever he heard it. He didn't say anything, however. When Harry finished, he wondered what Remus was going to do now. The werewolf had bit into his lower lip and almost drew blood from it. Aunt Petunia stayed in her corner, terrified of what he was going to do.

"When you did accidental magic," Remus said, "how come nothing really happened to your relatives?" Harry sat there with a blank expression on his face.

"Huh?" Harry had expected more shouting, not a question.

"Accidental magic usually happens to the thing or person that goads the wizard or witch into the intense emotion that set it off. Yours didn't do that with your uncle, aunt, or cousin. It only attacked inanimate objects around you and your family." Remus looked pensive. "I'll have to ask Dumbledore. He always seems to know everything." The werewolf stood up. "Now, I need to have a word with your uncle." Harry watched him as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't kill him," Harry muttered feebly at his retreating back. Aunt Petunia collapsed into a chair and looked more relieved than she ever had in her life. Harry kept his eyes on where his boyfriend had disappeared to. He couldn't see the living room from there. After a few moments, he didn't need to see anything; he could hear what was happening.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE A FREAK LIKE YOU TELLING ME WHAT TO DO!" Uncle Vernon yelled hysterically. Either he had cracked, or Remus had told him to do something that he just wouldn't stand for no matter who told him. He heard a thud and a wolf-like growl. Panicked, Harry dashed from the kitchen and into the living room to find Remus pinning his uncle against the wall.

"If I hear anything about you treating him like he's not a real person – if I see anything to suggest that you're not taking good care of him – to hell with Wizarding law, I'll come down here and torch you with my wand, do you understand?" Uncle Vernon nodded rapidly. Remus let go of him, turned around, and saw Harry standing there, looking at him fearfully. He hadn't sounded like the Remus he had made out with back at Hogwarts. "Ahem, Harry, mind if I borrow Hedwig?" Harry shook his head.

When Ron had received the letter from Remus saying that Harry would be staying at his place for the remaining summer until the Quidditch World Cup, Ron wasn't sure whether he should be grateful that Harry got away from the Dursleys or be worried about what would go on at Remus's. He wrote back saying that they'd get him at the former professor's place.

Harry slowly recovered from the surprise of seeing an extremely angry Remus. He certainly didn't think about it very much once he arrived at his boyfriend's flat. Harry looked around the flat, exploring every room. Remus let Harry take his bedroom and he'd have the couch. Harry objected to chasing Remus out of his own room. Remus argued that there was no way he was going to let him sleep in an improper room after having to live in a cupboard for ten years, then they both started thinking about the alternative if they didn't agree on who would be sleeping on the couch. The alternative was sleeping in the same room together. Remus only had one extra blanket which definitely wasn't fit to be a make-shift bed so if one of them wasn't sleeping on the couch, they'd have to sleep in the same bed and Remus knew that Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Lily and James would all disapprove of that given Harry's age.

"Really, sleeping on the couch is no problem," Harry insisted, blushing at the thought.

"I can handle it. I'm not that old," Remus argued. They frowned at the fact that they couldn't agree on this.

"Rock, paper, scissors? Winner takes the couch?"

"Okay."

"One -"

"Two -"

"Three!" Harry had rock; Remus had scissors. Harry won.

"Two out of three." Remus said. Harry rolled his eyes. Harry won the second time too.

-

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	8. Ron's Paranoia

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Chapter Seven: Ron's Paranoia

Ron, Fred, George, and Mr. Weasley popped out of the fire place. "Hi, Professor Lupin!" Fred and George greeted in unison. "Hi, Harry!"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lupin," Mr. Weasley said, holding out his hand. Remus took it.

"Nice to meet Ron's father, but call me Remus. 'Mr.' makes me sound old," Remus replied. Mr. Weasley and Remus laughed. Ron laughed too, but nervously.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?" Ron said.

"Sure," Harry said. Ron took him into the hall. He checked to make sure Fred, George, or Mr. Weasley wasn't near by.

"Exactly what's been happening here? Why'd he take away from the Dursleys?" Ron asked. Harry's grin faltered a bit. Remus's werewolf ears picked up the conversation and he tried to act like nothing was worrying him. Ron must still think of him as sexually savage.

"Why are you sounding so worried?" Harry questioned, barely keeping the annoyed-ness out of his voice. "As for the Dursleys, let's just say that their nephew-care skills weren't up to Remus's standards."

"You know exactly why I'm worried!" Ron whispered. Remus could still hear him.

"No, I don't," Harry retorted in a perfectly audible voice. Harry crossed his arms. Ron glanced worriedly at his family who seemed to be oblivious to the conversation seeing that Fred and George were fascinated to be in a werewolf's house and Remus had a fair amount of Muggle contraptions to keep Mr. Weasley preoccupied.

Ron bit his lip. "Has he – you know – what Snape implied in the Shrieking Shack?" Remus felt a piece of his heart pang and rage fired up. He bit his tongue hard enough to make it bleed. It was a bad idea to say what he wanted to say to Ron in front of his older twin brothers and father.

"Ron!" Harry scolded. "What the hell makes you think that?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

"And since when do you listen to Slytherins?"

"That's got nothing to do with this!" The shouting caught Fred and George's interest, but Mr. Weasley was abnormally engrossed in the typewriter that Remus had.

"Whoa, whoa, no need to kill each other," George joked.

"Yeah. What are you two arguing about anyway?" Fred asked curiously.

"None of your business!" Ron snapped. Remus let out a sigh of relief. It looked like Ron was either not grossed out enough (or too grossed out) to tell anyone (or complain to anyone) who didn't already know. "Can we just leave?"

"Don't see why not," Fred said. "Dad – Dad! You can learn how to use that next time we're here! That is, if Lupin ever wants to see us again."

"Yeah, we kind of disrupted his first class a bit," George put in.

"We thought it was going to be like Lockhart's or Quirrel's classes so we wanted to liven it up."

"But as it turned out, it didn't need livening up."

Mr. Weasley reluctantly left the typewriter alone.

"All right, boys. Thank you for letting Harry come with us to the Quidditch World Cup. I understand that you were one of his father's friends?"

"Yes," Remus informed Mr. Weasley. "One of his best friends." Mr. Weasley nodded.

"Sorry to arrive and run, but Molly will be worried if we stay any longer."

"Understandable. Lily used to call me whenever James didn't come back home in time, especially when she was pregnant with Harry." Remus suddenly changed his voice to what was unmistakably a grown British woman's voice which sounded familiar to Harry. "'He was supposed to arrive an hour ago! He must've been attacked on his way home! Bring a few Aurors with you in case it was a Dark wizard!'" Remus sighed. "It was only annoying when James was sitting in my living room and she failed to see that he was sitting right there in front of her, which was most of the time." Fred and George burst out laughing. Harry grinned. Ron's worry apparently hadn't lifted yet so he didn't show his amusement. "Then again, James did the exact same thing when Harry was four months old. Lily had also been sitting on the couch when that happened." That did it. All the boys, even Ron, ended up laughing uncontrollably.

"Hi, Harry!" greeted Hermione as Mrs. Weasley let go of him.

"Hey, Hermione," Harry said.

"I heard you had to go to Professor Lupin's to spend part of your summer. What happened at the Dursleys?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." While Mrs. Weasley and Ginny weren't looking, Harry mouthed, "They found out about me and Remus." Hermione let out a small gasp.

"What did they do?" she mouthed back.

"Three guesses, Hermione," Harry said audibly. "They're not exactly the most open-minded people."

"What did Lupin do when he found out?"

"Threatened that, if it ever happened again, he'd tear them limb from limb next full moon," Harry replied quietly. Hermione nodded.

"At least he cares a lot about you." Hermione smiled. "That's what makes the whole thing okay with me." Harry smiled back at her.

"Thanks, Hermione. That means a lot."

Percy then Apparated into the kitchen. "Ah, Harry, such a pleasure to see you again," he greeted, his nose in the air.

Ron leaned over the bunk he was sleeping in. "Psst. Harry!" Ron whispered. Harry opened his eyes and looked down at him. Ron checked to make sure everyone in the tent was fast asleep. "You never really answered my question about, you know . . . ."

"And I'd prefer it if I never had to," Harry retorted.

"Harry, I'm just –."

"You don't have to be worried. He's good to me, Ron. He wouldn't do anything that would hurt me."

"No one ever said that sex was harmful. If it was, why would people go into so much trouble to have kids?"

"He didn't do anything like that to me, and he won't until I'm ready."

"But -."

"Good night, Ron."

"Harry!" No response. "Harry!" Giving up, Ron turned onto his back and stared upward. "He's a werewolf." Ron muttered to himself. "He might be nice and everything, but – Harry – what if Snape was right?" Ron still didn't get a response, not that he expected one.

At the Weasleys' house, Harry found a letter waiting for him.

Dear Harry, Are you all right? I heard about the Quidditch World Cup incident. None of you got hurt, did you? That Rita Skeeter woman isn't a very reliable source of information. Please give me your reply as soon as possible. I can't stand thinking that you're hurt. Love, Remus.

P.S.: What does Hermione think about us now? Does Ron really think I'd to that to you when you're fourteen?

Harry frowned at the last part. Hermione stood behind him and read the letter. "Ronald Weasley!" Hermione shouted suddenly. The Weasleys jumped. Hermione snatched Harry's letter out of his hands, stormed over to Ron, and shook it in his face. "What's this about you accusing him?" Ron took the letter, hid its contents from Bill who was playing chess with him, and read the P.S. "Well?" Ron stood up and Hermione and Ron left the room. Harry followed them.

"Hermione, it's just weird!" Ron said as loud as he could without the rest of the family hearing. "I mean, he's twenty years older than him!"

"He cares about him, Ron! He can't help it that he cares more than a father figure would!"

"But what if Snape was right about the whole 'werewolves being sexually dangerous' thing?"

"RON!"

"I'm not saying he is!"

"But you're not saying he's not! You're so stupid sometimes!"

"Hermione, your reaction was the same as mine when we found out!"

"But at least I can deal with it! If Harry says nothing wrong happened, then nothing wrong happened!"

"The whole thing's wrong!"

"Would it be as wrong if Harry were thirty and him fifty?"

"Well, no -."

"Then why's it wrong now?"

"Harry's FOURTEEN! He's thirty-four!"

"I'm right here, you know! And who gives a damn about the age difference!" By now, the entire Weasley family was able to hear the argument.

"I'm just –."

"Looking out for me! You told me! But maybe I don't need you looking out for me! Maybe I need him looking out for me – being there for me!"

"He can do that without dating you!"

"IF YOU HAVE SUCH A BIG PROBLEM WITH IT, WHY DON'T YOU JUST TURN HIM IN TO THE MINISTRY?" Harry shrieked. He left the hall, ran out of the living room, and didn't stop running until he reached the outside and collapsed in the meadow beyond the garden wall.

Back inside the house, the whole Weasley family stared at Ron and Hermione.

"What was that about?" Charlie asked.

"Sounded like Harry's dating someone a whole lot older than him," Bill said. "Is that right?"

"Sounded like Harry's dating a boy," Ginny added.

"Of course!" Mr. Weasley said suddenly. "That's why Lupin took Harry from the Dursleys! They didn't handle the news very well!"

"Wait," Fred said, "damn, is it Lupin he's dating?" Hermione and Ron stayed unusually quiet. "Is it?"

"Is it that bloody obvious?" Ron asked, scared. Mrs. Weasley collapsed into a chair.

"No," George replied. "Lucky guess. He's the only one other than Sirius Black and Snape who went to school with Harry's dad."

"How'd you know that Lupin went to school with them?" Hermione asked.

"Snape's attitude last year made that clear, and the pictures on the mantle had a kid with the name 'Sirius Black' embroidered on his robes. And Lupin mentioned that he was friends with James and Lily back when we went to get Harry," Fred explained.

There was silence in the house. Percy just sat there, his paperwork forgotten. Mrs. Weasley looked like she was deep in worried thought. Mr. Weasley stared at the Daily Prophet, not really seeing it.

"Harry – Harry's all right, isn't he? He's not being forced into anything, right?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly.

"No," Hermione said at the same time Ron said, "Maybe." Hermione glared at him. "What?" Ron replied. "He kept it a secret last year. If there was anything . . . naughty happening, well – think about it – Lupin wouldn't exactly want Harry telling everyone, would he?"

"Maybe he didn't tell us because he expected that we'd act like you're acting right now!" Hermione snapped.

"We don't know, Hermione! And he's not talking about it!"

"If you were dating someone, would you want to talk about every little thing that happens?"

"Er – I don't know."

"I doubt you would." Ron frowned. "Now go and tell him you're sorry, and next time we see Lupin, you can apologize to him, too."

-

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	9. Speaking with Dumbledore

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Chapter Eight: Speaking with Dumbledore

Remus arrived in Dumbledore's office via Floo powder the day of the decision of who would be the Tri-Wizard Champions. "So good to see you, Remus," Dumbledore greeted with the twinkle in his eyes more bright than ever before. Remus didn't think that the twinkle meant anything.

"Good to see you too, Professor," Remus replied. "You remember why I'm here, right?"

"Yes, you wanted to talk about Harry's treatment at the Dursleys."

"They beat him, Dumbledore!" Remus burst out, unable to contain himself. "For something he couldn't even control!"

"What would that something be or did Harry not tell you?" Dumbledore asked politely. Remus hesitated for a moment. Should he lie? Should he tell the truth? Would Harry be angry with him if he did tell the truth? Would he be able to live with himself if he lied to him in addition to keeping secrets from Dumbledore?

"He didn't tell me." Dumbledore nodded at Remus's statement.

"I'm afraid lying is pointless, Remus, but I understand why you did so. Angering someone you love can be a very serious business." Remus stared at him, fearful. "To be honest, I encourage your relationship with Harry. That's why I never said anything until just now. Yes, I knew about last year though, I must say, you did a great job at hiding it."

"When - ?" was the only thing Remus could say in response to that.

"When I was coming to tell you that your carriage awaited. I was about to walk in when I heard Harry talking to you." Dumbledore was smiling at him while Remus looked at him guiltily. He almost wished that Dumbledore would shout at him and reprimand him for keeping secrets and snogging a student. "By the sound of it, he'd love you even if you had killed someone." Remus blushed. "Now, as you were saying?"

"Right," Remus said. "They had beaten him for his – er – preference, so to speak. But they had beaten him before that, too. Ever since his accidental magic first kicked in. And, I was wondering, why didn't his accidental magic ever attack his relatives? I mean, vases blowing up and releasing a boa constrictor didn't exactly hurt them in any way."

Dumbledore nodded. "It sounds like something I've been researching. It's very rare, actually. Magic actually disappears from a witch or wizard because of emotional traumas. Obviously Harry hasn't lost his magic, but perhaps his aunt, uncle, and cousin had a bit more of an effect on him than meets the eye. Perhaps he subconsciously is afraid to attack them in case they were able to fight back. If he was consciously afraid, his accidental magic might not have even been triggered at all and we would have been lead to believe that the wizard who caused Lord Voldemort to disappear was a Squib, which would have confused most wizards and made Mr. Filch jump up and down and shout, 'Ha! We ARE useful! Take that, Lucius Malfoy!'" Remus turned his laugh into a hacking cough. "But I'm just speculating. I have no evidence of this.

"Remus, you are aware that the Tri-Wizard Tournament is being held here at Hogwarts this year?" Remus nodded. "The Champions are being picked tonight. Afterwards, would you like to see Harry?"

"Yes, sir." He half-wished that Dumbledore wouldn't smile that widely at him. "What do you think James would think of this?" Remus blurted out. He couldn't figure it out. "I've been thinking about it since this started and I don't know."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I believe that his would be similar to Sirius's." Remus raised an eyebrow at him.

"You mean standing there completely shocked and trying to decide that he'll figure out what to think later?" Remus asked. Dumbledore chuckled.

"No. Understanding." Remus looked utterly confused. "Sirius talked to me about it when he came back from wherever he was hiding. We had found a good place for him to hide while he was here, and he voiced his opinion on it. He said he thinks that it's good that you've found someone who's not a 'slime ball', as he put it, and that Harry's happy, but he can't get it out of his head that it's a little weird, but he'll be as flexible as possible. And, I quote, 'But if he gets Harry into bed with him while he's still underage, I'll kill him!'" Remus laughed nervously.

"I didn't expect anything less," Remus admitted.

"Madam Maxime!" Fleur said at once, striding over to her headmistress. "Zey are saying zat zis little boy is to compete also!"

"Hey! I'm not little!" Harry retorted to her back, but she ignored him. Harry doubted that Remus would date a little boy, and since Remus was dating him that meant that he wasn't little!

"Before everyone goes making accusations," Snape said softly, "I would like to say that no one but Potter is at fault for this incident. Potter has always thought that he is above the rules and I believe a certain . . . event last year has caused him to believe he's an adult, making the Age Line of no importance to him."

"Severus, I very much doubt that has anything to do with this," Dumbledore said casually. Harry stared at Dumbledore, shock making him go numb again. Was that the same 'that' that Harry was thinking of? Snape stared at him as well.

"Headmaster, you mean you knew and you still let him teach?" Snape asked incredulously. Yep, the same 'that'.

"He's very trustworthy," Dumbledore replied. Standing there, stunned, Snape slowly took out a pocket dictionary and started looking for the word 'trustworthy.' Ignoring the confused looks he and Snape received, Dumbledore turned to Karkaroff. "You were saying?" Karkaroff looked at Dumbledore, glanced at Snape, glanced at Harry, then back at Dumbledore.

"How this needs explaining," Karkaroff answered, now looking at Snape curiously. Snape didn't look up from the dictionary until he found 'trustworthy.'

"'Worthy of confidence; reliable.' Headmaster, I don't see the words 'taking advantage of a student behind his dead parents' backs' or 'werewolf' in here," Snape muttered. Harry glared at him but bit back his retort. Cedric's eyes widened and he looked at Harry. Crap, that's why Snape told us all that werewolf stuff last year! Cedric thought.

As Harry and Cedric left the Great Hall, Cedric opened his mouth to say something but Dumbledore interrupted him.

"Harry, I almost forgot – Remus Lupin is waiting for you. He's outside."

Cedric watched Harry's face break out into a grin. "Thanks, Professor!" Harry called back and he dashed towards the oak front doors. Cedric frowned. How could Professor Lupin do that? He seemed so nice and was a great teacher, despite the werewolf-ness. But how could he date Harry? Harry was underage and – what – twenty, thirty years younger than him? Still worrying, Cedric went down to the Hufflepuff Common Room.

It didn't take Harry long to find Remus. Remus was sitting at the lake edge, staring at the water.

"Remus!" Harry shouted gleefully. Remus turned around, smiled and stood up.

"There you are, Harry!" he replied. Harry ran up to him and gave him a hug. Remus kissed his forehead and held the boy close. "How was everything?"

"Okay," Harry said. "You?"

"As good as it can get." Remus partly lied. He still didn't have a job, but he was planning on getting one in Hogsmeade so he could be near Harry, and so Sirius didn't need to eat off nothing but rats in the cave. "Dumbledore said the choosing of the Tri-Wizard Champions was tonight. Did anyone you know become Hogwarts champion?"

"Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. Durmstrang has Viktor Krum and Beauxbatons has Fleur Delacour." Remus backed away so he could look at Harry. He noticed Harry's troubled look.

"Is something wrong?"

Harry bit his lip. "Y-you'd probably find out anyway. The Daily Prophet will probably be doing an article on it." He took a deep breath. "There's a fourth champion, and he's me. Professor Moody and Dumbledore think it's because someone wants to – to kill me. Everyone else thinks I did it on purpose. But seeing how worried you'd be, that would be one of the most stupid things I could do." Harry looked up at his boyfriend. He looked the way Harry expected him to look: shocked.

"I – I thought the Goblet of Fire would've known there were only three champions to be chosen –."

"Moody says a very powerful wizard could Confund it into thinking that there were supposed to be more than three." Remus knelt down so that he and Harry could be at eye-level. The adult bit his lip before snogging Harry.

"I'll be there for you," Remus assured. "I've got a job in Hogsmeade so I'll be able to help you." He was partly lying again, but he was pretty sure he was going to have one.

"Thanks," Harry said. He pulled on Remus's collar and locked his lips with Remus's.

Krum, who had gone ahead of his headmaster toward the ship, stopped dead at the sight that was a few yards away from him. He stayed dead quiet because he was pretty sure that was the werewolf teacher Karkaroff had mentioned that Dumbledore had hired last year. Being caught was the last thing you wanted to do, Krum thought, because he's a werewolf! If he finds out you're here, he'll turn around and kill you so you don't tell anyone! But hadn't Dumbledore and Snape talked about it back in the room? It had been extremely subtle, but Snape had said enough for certain pieces to be put together.

Cedric stared up at the ceiling. Poor Harry. He couldn't help but think that.

As Krum dressed himself into his pajamas, he thought about what he had seen. Potter was fourteen. That werewolf was, what, thirty- forty-something? That werewolf also was probably a lot more experienced than Potter so he could easily take advantage of Potter. Hell, he could rob Potter of his virginity. Hell, he could've already done that!

Krum shook his head and got into bed, but couldn't get to sleep, not with the thoughts swimming in his head. Poor Potter. he thought before he finally closed his eyes.

-

Red Roses2: Review please. 


	10. Teenager Problems

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Chapter Nine: Teenager Problems

Harry and Ron weren't talking to each other. They hadn't completely made up about the argument back at the Burrow, and now that Ron thought that Harry was lying to everyone about not putting his own name into the Goblet and was jealous, Hermione wondered whether they would ever speak to each other again. Harry told Hermione about what Remus had said, and to Hermione, with everything that was happening, it was a good thing that Harry had someone who could understand being misunderstood.

"Ron's being such a stupid prat! Does he think I want this or something? Damn it, someone's trying to kill me with this tournament and my best friend's jealous about not having his head wanted by someone!" Harry shouted to her one day.

"Why don't you go to Remus with this?" Hermione suggested. All of Harry's anger drained out of him.

"Er – I don't want to bother him with it. I mean . . . kind of stupid that a fourteen-year-old can't handle his friend-problems without going to someone decades older than him." Hermione blinked and tilted her head, a searching look in her eye.

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"It's not that. I mean, it kind of is – it's complicated! Let's pretend I never said anything."

Hermione moved herself to where Ron sat after Harry left. "Ron, I need to talk to you. Without eavesdroppers," she added. Seamus and Dean shrugged and concentrated solely on their lunch.

"If this is about Harry -."

"It is about Harry, but not about your argument. Correction: arguments." Ron looked up at her. "It's about Harry and Lupin." Ron cringed. "Will you get over it?" Ron shook his head. She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, did you know that he's afraid of going to him with his problems?" Ron completely ignored his food after hearing that.

"He is?" Hermione nodded. "Why?"

"I think it's because he's scared of looking like a little kid. I mean, Lupin is a full grown adult and everything. I think part of Harry thinks that if he acts like he's clueless about how to deal with everyday problems – like an argument – that Lupin might want to, well, have someone who's his own age."

"That might not be such a bad idea," Ron muttered.

"Ron!"

"What?"

"Harry doesn't exactly have a lot of people who care about him with all their heart. With the circumstances of this relationship, the only way it can stay together is if they – well – love each other, no matter what happens to them. Kind of like your parents." Ron cringed more than he ever did, and ever will.

"Hermione! You just compared Harry and his lover to my parents! Do you realize how gross that is?" Ron exclaimed, causing many people to look over at them. At the darkest glare Hermione could muster, everyone looked away and didn't dare listen in.

"Forget about how gross it is, Ron. I'm being serious. I really think what Harry has for Remus is really . . . love." Ron shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "What?"

"Do we have to talk about this?" Hermione stood up abruptly.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE A CHILD ABOUT THIS? IT'S NOT LIKE TALKING ABOUT IT IS GOING TO BRING ABOUT THE PLAUGE! IT'S AN ELEMENT OF LIFE, RON! WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE IT'S UNNATURAL?" Hermione shrieked and stormed out.

Rita Skeeter's article had made Harry extremely angry. "So, Potter!" Malfoy taunted as they passed in the hall. "You and Granger going to make out in a closet?" Everyone laughed.

"SHUT UP!" Harry exploded. "SHUT UP! SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND FOR TWO REASONS! ONE: I'M ALREADY TAKEN AND TWO: I'M GAY!" Harry didn't cover his mouth like he did in the Shrieking Shack, not even after he realized what he had said. Everyone stood in the hall, completely silent. "That's right! Famous Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, is GAY! Get used to it, Mr. I'm-An-Ass!" Harry turned around and went to the Charms classroom closely followed by Hermione.

"Harry -."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Just calm down a little before you go into class." Harry looked at Hermione. Hermione almost gasped.

"How?" Harry asked, trying to hold back the tears. "How do I do that when Remus has probably already read that article? What if he believes it that we're dating? What then?" He wiped his tears away before they fell. "I don't want to loose him, Hermione. That nearly happened at the end of last year, just because he gave me a few scratches in his werewolf form." Hermione sighed and wrapped an arm around him.

"He won't ditch you, Harry. He's smarter than that." She smiled reassuringly at him. Harry nodded instinctively. "Ready to go to class?" He nodded again. "Okay."

The main source of gossip was Harry's confession. It somehow didn't reach Rita Skeeter, thankfully. It followed Harry everywhere, but he didn't care. Not anymore. He was glad, actually. They finally knew something about the real him. He fancied blokes. People tried not to talk about it in front of him in case they were being rude, and most boys didn't want to be caught talking about it in case some people got the wrong idea. Malfoy still hadn't recovered from the shock, and was probably busy praying that Harry didn't find him attractive, so he wasn't taunting Harry for it yet.

On the Hogsmeade weekend, Harry and Hermione searched over Hogsmeade for Remus. "He said he got a job here," Harry said once they searched almost every place in Hogsmeade. The three places they hadn't checked yet were the Post Office, the Hog's Head, and the Shrieking Shack (the last one for obvious reasons).

"We'll find him," Hermione said reassuringly. "There's still the Post Office." Suddenly Rita Skeeter popped out of no where.

"Hello Harry! Fancy meeting you here!" Rita greeted. "Mind if I have a word?"

"Yes," Harry said. Rita grabbed his arm and started pulling him toward the Three Broomsticks.

"Just a quick interview. The news about your fancy has reached my ears, and I want to do an article - ."

"Too bad! Let go of me!" Some passersby stopped walking to watch the struggle. Hermione pulled out her wand, pointed it at Rita's hand, and next moment, Rita was screaming that it burned. Harry and Hermione bolted.

"Bring him back here, little girl!" Rita called after them.

"I am NOT little!" Hermione retorted to herself as they took refuge in the post office. Harry panted and sat down on the floor.

"I hope we find Remus soon. I don't want to run into her again." Harry stood up and stared around the post office. There were hundreds of owls in all different sizes, colors, and species. There were some third years, a fifth year, and a seventh year standing around, but Harry didn't see a thirty-four-year-old man. Seeing Harry's crestfallen look, Hermione walked over to a desk and rang the little bell. A short man who looked as ancient as Dumbledore walked in behind the desk.

"How may I help you?" he asked.

"My friend and I were wondering if a man named Remus Lupin was working here," Hermione replied in a professional way. The man thought about it for a moment, then said, "He works here on weekdays. Why?"

"He was a professor up at Hogwarts last year, we knew he had a job here in Hogsmeade and we wanted to say hi." The man raised an eyebrow up at her.

"You knew he had a job here when I gave it to him on this week's Monday? I know he hasn't had much time to send a letter himself because I've had him really busy here." Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"That's weird." Hermione commented. "Thank you for the information."

"Why would he lie?" Harry asked her as they left the Post Office.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to worry you." They were quiet for a long time.

Harry didn't talk much about Remus after that, even though Remus was visiting every weekend after that. He had been hesitant to tell Remus that he'd be fighting dragons of all things – so he didn't. He just said that he had a feeling that simple spells might actually help instead of complicated ones. So Harry and Remus, and occasionally Hermione, spent a lot of their weekend time in the library for hours trying to find spells that would be helpful. Harry every once in a while had to stop Hermione from spilling the fact that he was going to fight a dragon.

"Why won't you tell him?" Hermione asked.

"I don't want him to worry more than he is," Harry muttered.

"Harry, I don't think he'd appreciate it when he finds out you've been keeping secrets."

"Well, he's been keeping secrets too!"

"But none of this magnitude."

"Does it matter?" Harry snapped at her as he dragged out his Charms homework. Hermione frowned. Sometimes she wondered whether Ron, or she, would be able to handle a relationship better than Harry. Somehow, she didn't think so.

"The task's dragons."

Cedric stopped picking up books and looked up at him suspiciously. "How do you know?"

"Accident." Harry helped Cedric pick up his books. "Krum and Fleur already know because Madam Maxime and Karkaroff know and they'd probably tell them." Cedric stared at the fourteen-year-old. He was way too young to be dating Lupin.

"Sorry."

"For what?" Harry looked up at him, confused.

"You know . . . being forced to date a werewolf." Cedric was surprised when Harry laughed.

"No, no, no. Remus isn't forcing me into anything." Harry had a small smile on his face that Cedric had only seen one place before: on Cho's face. "He's been great. Too bad Ron doesn't get that." Harry's voice changed from a loving tone to sounding bitter. Harry gave him the rest of Cedric's books. "See you later."

Cedric stared after him. He didn't think he approved of it – or even if he wasn't grossed out by it – but if someone could really be that happy about it, maybe it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be.

Remus looked after Hermione as she ran off crying from the nurse's tent. Harry wasn't that badly hurt, was he? Paranoid, Remus hurried up. When he entered, he found Harry and Ron shrugging and Harry saying, "I don't think we'll ever understand girls." Remus smiled at the comment. "Hey, Remus!" Ron turned around to see his best mate's boyfriend standing in the tent door.

"Er – I guess I'll just leave you two alone for now," Ron mumbled and left. Remus couldn't help but feel a bit better that Ron was now able to be comfortable enough about it to let them be alone in a room.

"How's your arm?" Remus asked.

"It's okay. For Madam Pomfrey, a graze on the arm is nothing hard to heal."

"Why dragons of all things? All four of you could have gotten yourselves killed, especially since you had no idea!" Remus suddenly stopped his ranting. "Wait, did you know that the first task was dragons?" Harry lowered his gaze.

"Yeah," he answered honestly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to worry you. Why did you lie about having a job when you were going to get one?"

"Also didn't want to worry you." Remus sat next to Harry. "Are you sure your arm's all right?"

"Remus!" Smirking, Harry gave his boyfriend a kiss which Remus returned.

Rita Skeeter stood outside of Harry's medical tent and when seeing who Harry's boyfriend must be, she began to pull out her Quick-Quotes Quill.

"Don't even think about it," said someone behind her. She turned around and saw Cedric and Krum pointing their wands at her. "You're not putting that in an article," Cedric said. Rita stopped all movement and put her hands above her head.

"Potter doesn't need to be emvarrassed like vat," Krum spat at her. He inched his wand a little closer. Rita Skeeter gulped.

"If word gets out, we'll hunt you down, hear me?" Cedric threatened. Rita nodded and she scurried away. Cedric and Krum stowed their wands away. "Troublesome woman."

"Hov you find out?" Krum asked Cedric.

"When Snape was talking about the definition of 'trustworthy'. You?"

"Ven I vos valking tovards ve ship. I sav vem kissing on the lake's shore. Do you knov if Potter is being forced?" Cedric shook his head.

"I don't know for sure. I mean, I talked about it with him a little bit, and by the sound of it, he isn't, but . . . what if he's being tricked into thinking it's his choice? What if he's under a spell?" Krum frowned at Cedric's comments.

"He's too young for a relationship vith someone like him." Krum stated. Cedric nodded.

"Nothing we can do about it, though. Unless we want a werewolf after our heads." Krum and Cedric shuddered at the thought of being torn to shreds.

"So ve keep vis to ourselves?"

"Yes. Agreed."

"Agreed. Cross my heart."

"Likewise."

"What am I going to do for the Yule Ball? I can't take Remus! They'd get him thrown into Azkaban!" Harry exclaimed as he sat in the deserted Common Room with Ron and Hermione. Harry paced rapidly. It made Ron and Hermione dizzy just to look at him. Harry suddenly stopped. "Hermione, do you think you could - ?"

"Sorry, Harry, but I'm already going with someone," Hermione said, frowning. Harry turned to Ron.

"Ron - ?"

"No way. Nuh-uh. Not happening," Ron replied.

"Ron! Please!"

"I'm not having the entire school thinking I'm gay." Ron crossed his arms and tried not to look at Harry's desperate face.

"But who else can I go with? No one in their right mind is going to go with me in case everyone thinks that they're 'the Boy-Who-Lived's boyfriend'!" Ron determinedly refused to look at Harry. "Hermione, do you have any ideas of who - ?"

"Maybe Ginny, if she would like to. Why don't you ask her?" Hermione asked. "Tomorrow, though. Boys can't get into the girls' dorms."

"Hey! Ginny!" Harry called after the red-headed girl. Ginny turned around and was surprised that it was Harry.

"Hey, Harry. How is everything?"

"Not good. Look, er, I obviously can't take my boyfriend to the ball so I was wondering if you'd like to help me not make a complete idiot of myself and go with me."

"Sure."

"Really?"

"I mean, yeah, why not? But on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You have to tell me everything about your relationship. Is it true that werewolves are sexually unstable? Has sex been fun?"

"Er – no, and I haven't had any."

"Oh! Well, what about kissing?"

"Amazing."

As the Yule Ball went on, Harry began to feel more and more unnerved. He felt like he was cheating on Remus by dancing with Ginny, which was stupid since it wasn't like he was snogging Ginny or even going out with her – it was just a stupid dance. Still, the feeling wouldn't go away. His feelings must've had physical symptoms because Harry had to sit down and have some butterbeer in order not to feel like he was going to vomit. Ginny sat with him, worried.

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked.

"No," Harry muttered. More quietly, he said, "I can't help but feel like I'm being a two-timer." Ginny put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good that you care about his feelings so much, but it's a dance – with someone you're not even attracted to. There's nothing wrong about it and he probably wouldn't be upset."

"Knowing that doesn't make the feeling go away. Damn it, I knew I should've told him about coming here with you, but I didn't want to sound stupid – like I was worried over nothing." Harry put his face in his hands. "Mind if I go get some fresh air?"

"No. I can find someone else to dance with." Harry's mouth twitched upward. He left the Great Hall and wandered around the grounds. He sucked in the cold winter air, his worries not disappearing. Maybe he should sneak into Hogsmeade. Remus obviously was staying somewhere there. Before he could make up his mind, someone covered his eyes with his hands.

"Guess who," came the familiar loving voice.

"Hi, Remus," Harry greeted. Remus removed his hands and Harry turned around and smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't let my lover be here all by himself during an event like this," Remus replied, winking flirtingly at him.

"Speaking of the Yule Ball, I went with Ginny."

"Hermione said something like that in the letter she sent. She was under the impression that you were having a hard time with deciding things lately."

"Heh, wonder where she got that idea," Harry lied. Yes he was having trouble with deciding things lately. He didn't want Remus to think that he was a child by coming to him with hundreds of problems, but Harry couldn't help but yearn to talk to him about them. He knew Remus could make it all better. Remus could make anything better for him, it seemed. Remus could tell that Harry was lying, but he didn't pressure him. Harry would tell him when he was ready. Remus drew Harry closer to him and gave him one of the best snogs Harry had ever had. A growling sound came from nearby. They parted, and just in time, because Sirius in his dog form took a bite in Remus's leg. Remus winced.

"Sirius, mind telling me why you did that?" Remus asked. Sirius temporarily transformed into a human.

"Would you care to watch where you put your hands?" Sirius retorted, jerking his head. Remus looked down, blushed, and removed his hands off of Harry's bum.

"Now I think I deserved that." Remus said. Sirius was taken aback by the glare his godson gave him.

"What?" Sirius questioned. Harry rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to be that protective, Sirius. I mean, it's Remus." Harry commented

"It's not that I don't approve, but I have to draw the line somewhere! When you're overage, you can decide where he touches you and where he doesn't." Sirius argued. Remus thought about that prospect for a few moments, blushed furiously, and erased the thought from his mind.

Dumbledore thought, and thought, and thought, and thought, and thought, and thought, and thought about who Harry would have to save. It was obvious (to those who knew) that Remus was Harry's 'most prized possession', but how would the rest of the school react to that? How many would get the correct idea? He didn't want to purposely embarrass any of his students like that, and he certainly didn't want to get Remus arrested. Dumbledore believed that if Harry had his heart broken, whether by Remus or someone tearing the two apart, then Harry wouldn't be the same. Ever. Until he got back with him. Dumbledore sighed and stared up at the ceiling. This was supposed to be easy.

Dumbledore had eventually decided on it being Remus.

"Why did you 'ave to save a fifty-year-old man, 'Arry?" Fleur asked.

"I'm thirty-four!" Remus corrected indignantly. Hermione and Harry burst out laughing. Krum and Cedric just stared at him.

"I vought he vos forty," Krum admitted.

"Me too," Cedric agreed. Remus barely registered that Krum actually had an idea of who he was. Harry tried to stop laughing so that he could answer Fleur.

"He's one of my parents' best friends, so yeah. Kind of like another relative." One that's extremely close and is the best kisser I've ever known. And is so hot it's almost unreal. Harry added in his thoughts. Fleur seemed to buy it because she didn't say anything about it after that.

-

Red Roses2: Review please. 


	11. The Order

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

-

Chapter Ten: The Order

"Could I haff a vord?"

"Yeah, all right," said Harry, surprised.

"Vill you valk vith me?"

"Okay. What're we going this way for?"

"Don't vont to be overheard." Krum didn't say anything until they were safely underneath some trees. "How does vat Lupin man treat you?" Harry blinked and suddenly because very scared inside, but very aggressive outside.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked almost savagely.

"Has he . . . taken advantage of you at all?"

"No."

"Tricked you into vinking vat?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Krum didn't seem to believe him. "Look, it's none of your business. And even if it was, I don't appreciate you asking me about it. He's my boyfriend; it's my life, so butt out! I didn't go telling Hermione that you're too old for her like Ron did so you shouldn't be talking to me about my boyfriend being too old for me!"

"I didn't mean to be insulting, Potter."

"Well, you are."

"I apologize."

"Good."

-

Remus, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius in dog form and Bill waited for Harry to appear. Remus stood uncomfortably under the gaze of Cedric and Krum. Bill didn't notice Fleur ogling him in a dreamy way. Bill looked at Remus, then at the two boys, then back at Remus.

"Wait, how many people know?" Bill asked, knowing Remus knew what he was talking about. It had only been the subject of their conversations ever since his mother met the man.

"Apparently more than I thought – and I found that out just by meeting you," Remus replied.

"Communication error?" Remus said nothing in response. "I'll take that as a yes." Suddenly, Fleur spoke up.

"Aren't you zat werewolf ze Potions Master 'ere mentioned?"

"Er – and what'll happen if I am?" Remus asked, sticking his hands into his pockets and holding tight to his wand. Fleur didn't say anything for a while, until – "Zat means zat you took - !" As fast as a Firebolt, Cedric and Krum covered her mouth so that the rest of her sentence was muffled. Sirius as a dog stared wide-eyed at Fleur and glanced up at Remus. Remus tried to ignore his remaining best friend's look, which said, 'Is it that obvious?' Luckily for anyone who didn't want an awkward moment, Harry entered.

"Remus! Mrs. Weasley!" Harry greeted, giving Remus a big hug, and receiving one from Mrs. Weasley.

-

Remus watched as Harry went into the maze. Communication error? echoed in his head. It was true that he and Harry had failed to tell each other about certain things, but they didn't want the other to worry. But Remus would've liked it if Harry had come to him with his problems, even if it was something trivial. He wouldn't mind.

Remus's thoughts were interrupted by Mrs. Weasley. "Exactly what were you thinking?" she asked. Remus, again, knew what the Weasleys were talking about.

"Before or after we got together?" Remus whispered. Sirius's ears pricked up, just because he wanted to know, too.

"Both," she replied.

"Before: What the bloody hell James and Lily would to do me and that I shouldn't be having those feelings for their son. After - ." Remus paused, trying to think of what he thought. "After: I wouldn't leave him for anything, unless in the long run he'd be safe and alive."

-

Harry woke up in the Hospital Wing and heard shouting. "Good evening, Harry," Harry heard Remus greet. The boy also felt Remus's hand brushing against his forehead and pressing down his bangs.

"Evenin'," Harry mumbled, tired and wanting to go back to sleep. "What's all the commotion about?"

"Don't know."

-

"Remus, seeing that you are part of the Old Crowd, would you care to assist in gathering the others?" Dumbledore asked politely. Remus nodded, then heard Ron and Hermione snorting.

"It's the name of those who fought Voldemort last time!" Remus insisted.

"So it's got nothing to do with the fact that Fleur, Krum and Cedric all thought that you were over forty?" Hermione questioned. Ron burst out laughing. He glared at them.

"No, it doesn't!" Remus said.

"You can't blame them! I thought he was fifty-six when we first met him!" Ron admitted, the two of them rolling back into laughter.

"Come on, guys, give him a break," Harry said, grinning as Remus picked up a pillow and threw it at them.

-

Remus, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Sirius (who was sitting in the corner, mumbling to himself) sat in a room with Moody, Kingsley, Mundungus, Snape and soon to be Tonks.

"Shouldn't we give Lupin more responsibilities during that time, Headmaster? I mean – it's possible he might round a certain person's age up by two years." Remus glared at Snape.

"Severus," Dumbledore said strictly. Moody, Mundungus, Kingsley and McGonagall looked at Remus, then Snape, then at Dumbledore.

"What do you three know that the rest of us don't?" Moody asked. Moody glanced at Sirius who continuously muttered in the corner ever since Remus showed up. Remus seemed determined to ignore his friend's mutterings.

"Nothing," Remus said at the exact same time Snape said, "Something very important." Remus and Snape glared at each other. "Can we get back to what we were talking about?" Remus asked loudly. Snape shrugged.

"Depends. Can you keep him out of your bed for once?" Snape shouldn't have said that. Remus dashed out of the room right when Sirius yelled, "REMUS JULIAN LUPIN!" Sirius chased after him. Snape smirked. "Black murdering Lupin is something I just have to see." Snape left his chair and went after them. Dumbledore sighed, pardoned himself from the room, took out his wand, and followed the three younger men.

"Severus, you just had to say that."

"What? It's true, Headmaster."

"Do you have any proof?"

"Do I need any?" was the small bit of Snape's and Dumbledore's argument before it was drowned out by Sirius bellowing hexes and frightened yelps coming from the floor under them.

Moody looked at McGonagall, who looked at Kingsley, who looked at Mundungus, who looked at Moody. "Do you have any idea what that was about?" they all questioned at once. "No." they all replied in unison. Moody thought hard about it. Who would Sirius be overprotective of? Harry, obviously. So, what would Sirius want to kill Remus for that involved Harry and Snape's comment? When Moody finally came across the answer, he felt a feeling of horror and disgust come over him. The first thing he thought was 'Ew!' then he thought what everyone who knew tended to think. What the bloody hell is Lupin thinking? Moody didn't have much time to think of anything else because Remus re-entered the room and closed the door quietly. He listened for Sirius – or either of the two men following Sirius who would mean that Sirius was there – and when he didn't hear any of them, he sighed in relief.

"Why he has to goad Sirius into killing me, I have no idea," Remus muttered to himself.

"You know that's illegal, right? What Snape was talking about?" Moody asked. Remus jerked his head to look at Moody.

"Alastor and I aren't right, are we? About you and . . . him," McGonagall said hesitantly.

"Er - ." Remus said, but he didn't finish because Tonks entered.

"Oh, hey, Remus. Do you know that Sirius is looking for you?" Tonks greeted.

"Yes. Just – close the door." Tonks shrugged and did what she was told. "And, Moody, Minerva – I'd just like to say that Severus is completely wrong about his earlier statement."

"That doesn't disprove us," McGonagall stated.

"That's because I can't without lying," Remus admitted. Moody and McGonagall were about to stand up and do Sirius's job for him when Sirius came in. Remus grabbed Tonks's shoulders and hid behind her right when Sirius raised his wand, probably about to curse him with some horrible hex. "Will you listen to me? Since when do you listen to Severus?" Sirius didn't answer. He crossed his arms and glared at his best friend.

"I trusted you to - ."

"Severus just jumped to conclusions when he found out. I haven't done anything, I swear."

Tonks stood in between them, wondering what was going on and enjoying Remus's touch on her shoulders. Sirius's anger seemed to deflate a little. "Really?" he asked suspiciously.

"Really." Sirius seemed to believe him.

"I'm still keeping an eye on you."

"I didn't expect you not to." Sirius smirked.

-

"It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away," said a voice that Harry would've recognized no matter what.

"Remus! Where are you?"

"Why are we all standing in the dark? Lumos!" Tonks said. Once Harry's eyes adjusted to the light, Harry ran up to Remus and gave him a hug.

"Good to see you too, Harry," Remus said, receiving a warning look from Moody.

"Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would," said Tonks. "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus," said Kingsley. "He looks exactly like James."

"Except the eyes. Lily's eyes."

"I'd say are you sure it's him if I didn't know that a Death Eater wouldn't, ahem, hint anything he or she wasn't sure of," Moody commented, mostly to Remus.

"What in Merlin's name have you people been talking about? Ever since I joined the Order, you two, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore have all been making vague comments about something!" Tonks exclaimed, frustrated. Remus quickly changed the subject.

"How are you, Harry?"

"Fine. You?"

"More or less – what's that?"

"What's what?" Harry asked, knowing full well what he meant. It wasn't obvious, but there was a faint bruise where his jaw bone connected to the rest of his skull.

"That," Remus laid his finger on the bruise. "If they gave that to you - ."

"You won't be able to kill them because we don't want you arrested," Moody growled. "Tonks, go help Harry with his luggage. Lupin, you – stay – here." Remus refrained from pouting until Harry and Tonks had left. Since the rest of the Order already knew about him and Harry because of Molly, he could complain to Moody now.

"What was that for?" Remus asked. Moody just growled like a guard dog in response.

-

As they flew, Remus inched closer to Harry, but not so much that everyone noticed. Moody, however, seemed to be Superman.

"LUPIN! BACK IN POSITION!" Moody bellowed.

"IT'S AN INCH! AN INCH!" Remus shouted back. Harry and Tonks broke out laughing at the absurdity of it. Harry almost fell off his broom from his laughing.

"Okay, Remus, do what Moody says or else Harry and I will end up dying from laughing by falling off!" Tonks called back to Remus humorously. Remus grumbled things to himself.

-

After the meeting, Moody held Sirius back. "Exactly where have you – you know – drawn the line with . . . ?"

"Let's just say all Remus can do is everything completely innocent without me killing him," Sirius assured. Moody sighed in relief.

"Mind if I keep an eye on him, anyway?"

"Knock yourself out."

-

Mrs. Weasley, as she was cooking, was complaining about how irresponsible Remus was being. Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, Bill, and Ginny had learned to block her out. Sirius, on the other hand, assured her that Remus wasn't being 'irresponsible' so to speak. Especially with the fact that if he were being 'inappropriate', Remus would be dead by now.

"Least he's not dating a greasy git again like he did back in sixth year," Sirius commented. All the Weasley children and Hermione choked.

"Wait, don't you only call Snape a greasy git?" Hermione asked hesitantly. Sirius nodded.

"Lupin dated SNAPE?" Ron, Fred, and George questioned incredulously and disgustedly.

"Suddenly Lupin dating Harry is perfectly okay," Ron said.

"Yeah, Remus dated Snape," Sirius growled, annoyed at the memory. "He must've pitied the git or something because he's far from handsome in most sane people's minds and even farther from being nice. All I know is how it ended."

"How?" Ginny asked, interested. Sirius was silent for a few moments.

"He found out Remus was a werewolf."

"How'd that happen?" Fred and George asked in unison.

"I told him how to get into the Shrieking Shack as a prank."

"Oh yeah, you told us about that," Ron said.

"Was Lupin okay?" Hermione questioned.

"He wouldn't talk to me for two whole weeks and James said he cried when he thought no one was listening."

"Oh, thank you very much for telling them how my first relationship ended," interrupted Remus's voice from behind them. Sirius jumped and turned around.

"Hi, Remus!" Remus crossed his arms. "What?"

"At least you didn't tell Harry. I don't think he'd let me live it down."

"Or I'd just kill Snape," suggested Harry, who was standing behind Remus. Hermione and Ginny snorted. They found it humorous that the one person they don't want finding out found out just by walking by.

-

Moody sat in the kitchen, his magical eye looking through the ceiling. His arms were crossed and he wore a strained expression. "Do you think I'll ever get used to seeing this?" Moody asked Sirius. Sirius looked up at the ceiling.

"What's going on up there?" Sirius said, a hint of unease in his voice.

"Innocent stuff. But someone thought it would be fun to give Harry a magazine that seems to have an article on how to have sex. Doubt it's Remus since he doesn't have enough money for food . . . ." Sirius choked on his tea because the part about the magazine had a hard time being understood.

"He has a what?" Sirius exclaimed before dashing away. Moody shrugged and concentrated on keeping an eye on Remus. Sirius soon re-entered Moody's vision and he watched as Sirius pulled the magazine out from under Harry's bed. Finally they stopped kissing. Moody watched Sirius's mouth move, most likely asking the question as to why Harry had this. Harry stared at it, horrified. Whatever Harry mumbled as an answer, it made both Remus and Sirius worried. Moody watched as Remus's mouth moved as he said something to Sirius. Sirius nodded and Remus left the room. Moody waited for Remus to appear in the kitchen.

"What's going on up there now?" Moody asked.

"Sirius is having a talk with him," Remus answered, looking worried. "This is the second time I've been aware that the thought has actually crossed his mind. The first time was when he was thirteen." Moody choked.

"What?" Moody, and Molly, questioned.

"Don't worry, nothing happened, but . . . it's a bit . . . not sure how to phrase it."

"What he read to make him think that?" Moody said.

"Some book he stumbled upon." Hermione, who just entered the room, turned to Remus.

"Did that book happen to be about a sixty-year-old man with a teenaged girl?" The adults turned to stare at her.

"Yes . . . ." Remus answered.

"Fred and George gave me that as a prank. I hexed them for it, and I didn't see it since, and I sure wasn't going to go look for it." Remus and Moody turned their heads so as to look at Molly. She looked like she was about to burst.

"FRED AND GEORGE ALBERT WEASLEY!" Molly shrieked.

The twins Apparated on the spot. "Yes, Mum?" they asked in unison, obviously oblivious to why their mother was furious.

"WHAT'S THIS ABOUT YOU USING BOOKS WITH THAT STUFF IN THEM AS PRANKS?" Fred and George blinked.

"Which 'that' are you talking about? There's the having-sex-that, and the Boy-Who-Lived-Doing-Who-Knows-What-With-A-Werewolf-that," Remus raised an eyebrow at Molly, "and the None-Of-Our-Mother's-Business-that." Fred listed, receiving a jab in the side from George. "Ouch! That hurt!" Molly seemed to inflate with anger (but not like Marge Dursley).

"The 'that' that I'm talking about is the Prank-Involving-The-Very-Old-Man-Lusting-After-A-Teenaged-Girl-that."

"That would get us into trouble how?" George asked.

"Harry found it. At the age of thirteen, and started getting ideas," Remus said for Molly. Fred's and George's faces paled and they looked from Remus to their mother. Fred and George laughed nervously.

"Er – bye!" The twins ran for it. Molly whipped out her wand and chased after them. Remus sat determinedly in his chair, biting his lip. He needed to start watching what Harry read.

-

"Remus isn't a dangerous half-breed!" Harry shouted at Professor Umbridge. Umbridge turned her eyes onto Harry and was about to say, "Hand, Mr. Potter," when Harry continued. "And he's not a half-breed! He's perfectly normal! He just has a bit of a problem!"

"Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you would not speak of things that you do not understand. Professor Snape has informed me that he took a particular interest in you. Dark creatures aren't kind, Mr. Potter, so I advise you to stay away from them." Harry stood up.

"You're the one who doesn't know what you're talking about!"

Hermione and Ron looked at him worriedly. Neville and Dean on the other hand looked like they couldn't wait to hear what else Harry had to say.

"Do I need to bring Professor McGonagall down here to help you understand?"

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT MY BOYFRIEND!" Harry covered his mouth a nanosecond after he said that. Everyone's lower jaws dropped except for Ron's and Hermione's. Lavender and Pavarti let out horrified squeaks of shock. Seamus suddenly stopped thinking bad of Harry. Dean exchanged looks with Neville and tried to catch Ron's and Hermione's eyes.

"Seven o'clock you are to come to the teachers' lounge and we'll discuss this with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore."

"They already know," squeaked Hermione from her seat, "and Dumbledore's okay with it. I'm not sure about Professor McGonagall, but she hasn't tried to stop it. Professor Snape knows too so that's probably why he told you – to give the Ministry a hint so Lupin could be arrested." Umbridge looked from Hermione to Harry.

"Sit down, Mr. Potter. Now."

-

The Boy-Who-Lived's Fancy! By Rita Skeeter:

Last year it was discovered by many that the famous Harry Potter was a homosexual. Quite recently, it was found that the famous Harry Potter was dating none other than Remus J. Lupin, werewolf, former Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, school friend of the Boy-Who-Lived's parents. The relationship began during Halloween in Potter's third year when Lupin was teaching at school.

Professor Severus Snape supplied us with much of our information. "Potter wasn't nearly as big of a liar before Lupin arrived at the school. I believe his lying tendency came from needing to hide his 'relationship' if you could call it that. Personally, I believe that Lupin has been taking complete advantage of the boy, but Potter thinks otherwise so there's no getting through that thick skull of his. The only reason I haven't told anyone until now was the fact that Lupin, having been in the same year as me and one of my school nemesises, has a lot of, ahem, embarrassing situations in his memory which are perfect for black mail. Lupin's lust is actually no surprise to me. Potter's father used to be best friends with Sirius Black and we all know how he turned out."

With Snape's comments in mind, it makes perfect sense as to why the Boy-Who-Lived is lying and drawing attention to other things. It is so we wouldn't notice his relationship. In fact, Lupin possibly forced him into ruining his reputation.

Percy Weasley, the Minister of Magic's assistant, also had news to give. "Potter, I'm afraid, is rather delicate when it comes to his heart. My little brother, Ron, who is a Prefect at Hogwarts, once expressed his concern for his best mate back in their fourth year. Poor Harry couldn't handle the questions he was asking him because Ron suggested that Lupin was merely using him. I would have said something about this sooner if it weren't for the obvious. Werewolves are extremely dangerous, especially when angry. I'm afraid that Potter's overlooked that so that werewolf could replace the hole in his heart that must've been left by the death of his parents." As we can see, Harry Potter is actually a victim of his own lies because he's been emotionally trapped by that horrible werewolf, Remus Lupin.

Harry tore the newspaper into pieces. Ron and Hermione watched as he did so. The entire Great Hall had already finished reading the newspaper and they all turned to look at Harry, even the teachers. Harry didn't open his mouth to speak even though he felt like screaming. Damn it, he had to yell it out in Umbridge's class! Remus was going to hate him for this. Harry hid his face behind his hands, not wanting to look at anything.

"Harry?" Hermione asked timidly, putting down her own newspaper.

"I just remembered. I still have to do that essay that's due today. See you later," Harry muttered as he got up and left the Great Hall. As soon as Harry had left, McGonagall burst out shouting.

"Why did you let the Daily Prophet interview you?" McGonagall screeched at Snape. She was tempted to call him a bastard.

"She paid me for the interview. Is that a good enough answer for you?" Snape replied. Dumbledore shook his head, not saying anything. There was no changing it and punishing Snape wasn't going to help.

-

Whispers followed Harry everywhere. "Do you think he's all right?" Pavarti asked Lavender one History of Magic lesson.

"No. A werewolf's shagging him every once in a while, Pavarti! Of course he's not all right!" Lavender hissed at her. Harry turned around in his chair and they suddenly became very quiet.

"Shut up, okay? Shut up." Harry said, turning back around in his chair. Hermione actually looked up from her note taking to look at Harry. Ever since the article had come out, he'd been acting a bit different. He had actually started paying attention in History of Magic. That meant that the whole reaction-to-the-article thing was really getting to him.

-

The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt back in shock, and turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in her hands. Harry sighed in relief.

"Oh, hi, Harry," Cho said.

"Hey," Harry muttered, checking the skies again. Cho brought up the subject of Quidditch as a form of conversation while she sent off an owl.

"Is – is that werewolf interested in Quidditch?" she asked, glancing over at him. Harry stopped looking for the odd horse and flipped through his memory. He hadn't really asked him.

"I don't know, actually." Cho looked at him with a worried expression.

"Did – did Cedric know about – about . . . ?" Harry nodded. Cho looked down at the floor. "What did he do?" Harry looked at her with a clearly annoyed expression.

"He asked me about it, I told him it was nothing to worry about. Pretty much the same thing you're doing except he got right to the point and we didn't even have this long of a conversation about it. That enough info for you?"

Cho frowned. "No," she answered. Harry looked away from her. "How could he think that dating you is all right?"

"He didn't at first."

"What changed his mind?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"None of your business, is it?" Cho and Harry felt an uncomfortable (to Cho) silence.

"Is he rough?"

"No."

"Forceful?"

"No."

"Wanting nothing but sex from you?"

"NO! JUST SHUT UP ABOUT HIM! YOU DON'T KNOW HIM! YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT! CEDRIC DIDN'T ACCUSE HIM OF ANY OF THAT!" With that, Harry stormed out of the Owlery, leaving Cho standing there, her heart panging and tears springing to her eyes. In heaven, Cedric stared down at the scene, wondering. In heaven, one knew everything. He even knew the future. Because he knew what was to come, he wondered whether Cho really did miss him if someone could be completely destroyed by heartbreak. Cedric tore his eyes away from his former girlfriend and watched Harry run down the Owlery steps, not willing tears to fall. Cedric knew what Harry was thinking. He knew he thought he had to be strong for Remus, knew he thought he couldn't cry about everyone getting the wrong idea. Cedric wished he would. It would get the message through faster.

-

Remus was utterly surprised one morning when he received a hundred letters from people he didn't even know. Sirius, Moody, Molly, and Bill stared at the pile of letters, wondering how the owls found an Unplottable house. Remus took the first letter and opened it. A silver arrow narrowly missed Remus's head and hit the arch that led to the hallway. Remus froze, hand inches away from the actual letter.

It read: Werewolf, if you actually survived my arrow, then I'll just chew you a new asshole. (Moody had taken the letter and was reading it aloud. He paused as he finished that sentence.) You are lower than dirt for taking advantage of that innocent boy! Keep your filthy, perverted hands away from our Boy-Who-Lived! Once you're out of the picture, he can finally tell us all the truth!

There wasn't a signature. Remus opened one of the many Howlers. It was along the same lines, as were the rest of the Howlers and semi-normal letters.

"Looks like you have hate mail," Bill commented. "The entire Wizarding World knows about you and Harry now, in case you haven't been reading the Daily Prophet lately." Remus frowned at the letters. He knew that people would hate him and want him thrown in Azkaban, but he wished they wouldn't send hate mail.

-

"Or secret Defense Against the Dark Arts groups?" Sirius said. Harry immediately panicked.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked slowly.

"You want to choose your meeting places more carefully," said Sirius, grinning still more broadly. "The Hog's Head, I ask you . . . ."

Harry didn't let Hermione defend them. "Does Remus know?"

"Yes," Sirius replied in an almost bored way.

"Er – what does he think about this?" Harry bit his lip. The thought had bothered him to no end that Remus wouldn't approve. Sirius, to his surprise, grinned like a maniac.

"He said that anything against that Umbridge woman was okay with him as long as you don't get yourself hurt. I also say it's a lovely idea."

"Has he read the article about you-know-what yet?"

"Oh yeah. He's getting hate mail." Seeing the surprised look on his godson's face, he added, "It's nothing anyone didn't expect, and he's taking it rather well, but they come by the pounds. Most of them are Howlers, but some of them have weapons hidden in them along with silver dust . . . oh, don't look at me like that! He's still alive and hasn't needed to be taken to St. Mungo's. Let's just pray that Voldemort doesn't read the newspaper." Ron shuddered.

-

"I was just wondering," she said, "whether we're doing the right thing, starting this Defense Against the Dark Arts group."

"What!" said Harry and Ron together.

"Hermione, it was your idea in the first place!" said Ron.

"I know, but after talking to Snuffles . . . ."

"But he's all for it!" Harry said.

"Yes, yes, that's what made me think maybe it wasn't a good idea after all . . . ."

"Let's get this straight. Sirius agrees with us, so you don't think we should do it anymore?"

"Do you honestly trust his judgment?"

"Yes, I do! He's always given us great advice! And Remus thinks it's a good idea, too! If it's okay with Remus, it's got to be okay! Unless you have a problem with his judgment too, just like everyone else in the world!"

"Harry, you know very well that I approve of you two being together, and I don't have a problem with Remus's judgment, but Sirius is just worrying me."

"Well, don't be."

-

"Listen, can you just tell me exactly where this Room of Requirement is and how to get there?" Dobby informed Harry of everything he needed to know. "Thanks, Dobby."

"Dobby would like to ask Harry Potter a question."

"Go ahead."

"Is Harry Potter happy with Remus Lupin?" Harry blinked at the house elf.

"Yeah, I am. Actually, I'm the happiest I've ever been when I'm with him. Why?"

"Dobby wondered if Harry Potter was because of the Daily Prophet. Everyone says Remus Lupin has been taking advantage of Harry Potter and Dobby was worried for Harry Potter's safety, but the Daily Prophet has been wrong before, Dobby knows, and Dobby wanted to make sure that Harry Potter was happy before Dobby went and did something to help Harry Potter." Dobby smiled at him. "But now that Dobby knows that Harry Potter is happy and okay, Dobby will tell the other house elves to stop talking bad about Remus Lupin because Remus Lupin must be a very kind man to make Harry Potter that happy." Harry smiled at Dobby.

"You get it better than Ron and Hermione. Kind of weird, but I'm not complaining."

-

As the D.A. lessons went on, the D.A. members minus Cho started questioning Harry about his relationship with Remus.

"What the hell happened to his brain to make him think that he could snog you?"

"So, er, is shagging really that fun?"

"What was your first kiss like?"

"Is this relationship really serious? You know, like a married couple's?"

Harry ended up laughing after being asked the second question fifty times. The Weasleys and Hermione shook their heads at the questions. "Okay, here's the deal. Remus and I haven't been having sex. If we were, Ron's mum would've killed him and buried him already."

"And his corpse would be so far down in the ground he'd be near the center of the earth," Fred chimed in.

"Oh! I've got a question for Ron!" Luna exclaimed, hopping up and down. "Harry was visiting you during the summer, right?"

"Right . . . ." Ron said.

"Well, was Remus visiting, too?"

"Yeah . . . ."

"Did you and Harry share a room?"

"Yes . . . ."

"Did they ever kiss in your room?" Ron didn't say anything but Harry nodded. "How'd you get to sleep?" Ron was silent for a long time.

"I was wondering about that too," Ginny commented.

"I didn't," Ron admitted. Harry narrowed his eyes at him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked.

"Er," Ron said, "well, I might not be overly worried about it, but it's still gross!" Harry crossed his arms and glared at him. Fred put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. Ron's just romantically challenged," Fred joked.

"Yeah," George chimed in. "Wait until he starts dating, he'll get over it."

"Oh, wait! His second worst fear is kissing!" Fred and George laughed at their own joke and Harry couldn't help but grin.

"Hey!" Ron said indignantly, his face turning red.

"Served you right," Harry replied.

-

" – but you like the Weasleys, don't you Potter?" said Malfoy. "Spend the holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but then again, you don't have high expectations."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, grabbing hold of George.

"Well, you're dating that werewolf, aren't you? He wears nothing but rags and he can't even get a job thanks to that new law. He must be a whole lot poorer than the Weasleys, which is saying something. He's also not that good-looking and already has his hair turning gray."

"Shut up."

"And, if he does get money, it's probably from being a prostitute because that's the only way someone like him can get money."

"SHUT UP!" Fred and George stopped resisting the girls and Harry and the twins grabbed hold of Harry who looked like he was going to kill Malfoy. "SHUT UP ABOUT HIM, YOU SON OF A - !" Fred covered his mouth before he could finish. His hand wasn't there for long because Harry bit him.

"Ouch!" Fred said, tightening his hold on the fifteen-year-old.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HIM! Fred – George – let go of me!" The twins dragged Harry off of the Quidditch field, Malfoy standing there feeling like someone had Stunned him.

Harry didn't calm down until he and the twins were safe inside the school. Harry sat down on the floor, breathing heavily. "Take it easy, Harry," George said, patting him on the back.

"Stupid Malfoy," Harry muttered. The three of them heard footsteps coming into the Entrance Hall, which was where they were. Professors McGonagall, Umbridge, and Snape appeared.

"Umbridge, don't be too hard on the boy. Lupin can be very manipulative and he's been with the boy for more than two years - ," said Snape, but Umbridge cut him off.

"That's no excuse for insulting the son of a highly respected Ministry official, Severus. Potter needs to be punished for that," Umbridge said.

"Umbridge, you can't be serious!" McGonagall said. "Mr. Malfoy accused Lupin of fornicating for money! You can't expect Potter not to be offended by that. I'm surprised he hadn't pounced on Malfoy and displayed Muggle dueling right on the spot!"

"Minerva, under Educational Decree Number Twenty-five, I can give out punishments and take away privileges to any student who has broken the rules."

"For once, Potter hasn't broken any rules, Umbridge," Snape pointed out. "Which is amazing in itself."

"It also allows me more power than common teachers, so I suggest that you keep your mouth shut, Severus."

Umbridge walked over to the three boys. "Mr. Potter, from this moment on, you shall not be allowed to play Quidditch - ,"

"What?" Harry, Fred, and George exclaimed at once.

" – and you shall have detention with me for the rest of the month. This should teach you to not to insult the children of Ministry officials like that." Harry glared at her.

"Umbridge, you can't be serious!" McGonagall repeated. Snape said nothing. Umbridge smiled at her.

"I believe that I can, Minerva," Umbridge said. "There is no law against it now that there's Educational Decree Number Twenty-five."

"Umbridge, keep in mind that I'm not defending Potter, but -,"

"But what, Severus?"

"But I don't think that's a good idea."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because of Lupin. Do you want an angry werewolf hunting you down?" Snape asked.

"Severus, Potter won't tell Lupin anything. Trust me," Umbridge said. Harry gulped. That didn't sound good.

-

Red Roses2: Please review. 


	12. Detention with Umbridge

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Do tell me if Harry's OOC at all.

-

Chapter Eleven: Detention with Umbridge

Harry stepped into Umbridge's office. Umbridge smiled sickeningly at him.

"Sit down," Umbridge said. Harry cautiously did so. Umbridge waved her wand; the door closed on its own. She turned around and did something with the fire. Harry tried to see around her, but he didn't need to. She held a white-hot poker in her hand. "Detention time, Mr. Potter." Harry prayed she wasn't going to do what he thought she was going to do with the poker. He bit his lip and in one moment, he found himself in excruciating pain. He screamed. He leaned backward and he and the chair toppled over. Harry stood up, reached the door, and tried to open it. It was locked. "Accio wand!" Harry's wand flew out of his pocket. "We can't have you leaving just yet, now can we?"

"You're crazy!" Harry stated. Umbridge advanced on him.

"It's time some sense was engraved in that brain of yours."

"Get away from me!"

Harry broke into a series of screams. Apparently, Umbridge had put Silencing Charms around her office so no one could hear him except for her. Umbridge said a few things like, "You will stop telling lies" and "You'll learn your rightful place", in other words, things the Dursleys might say. When the torture was all done, Harry's leg felt like he wouldn't be able to walk on it anymore.

"Now, Mr. Potter, you will tell no one of what has happened here, or when Lupin is found, he won't be sent to Azkaban. I'll deal with him, and I don't think you want him to be tortured now, do you?" Harry shook his head. "I see you understand.

-

Harry got out of bed one Saturday morning and was rummaging through his trunk for a new pair of pants, limping a bit. His detentions were finally over, and he wasn't sure if his leg was ever going to be the same. He rummaged around for some pants when he heard a squeak of horror. Harry jumped and turned around to see Neville, staring at Harry's scarred leg.

"Where did that come from?" Neville dared to ask, his voice abnormally high-pitched. Harry quickly covered it with the cloak he had been holding.

"Where did what come from?" Harry said, knowing Neville wasn't going to buy it.

"Where did those – those red, bloody scars come from?" Neville said.

"I – I don't know what you're talking about. You must be imagining things, Neville."

"I am not! Was it Professor Umbridge?" Harry stared at Neville.

"How'd you guess that?" Harry asked him.

"I know it couldn't be Professor Lupin because you didn't have them back in third year or fourth year, and you haven't started limping until after your first detention with her."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, it was her." Harry threw the cloak onto the bed and extracted some robes from his trunk. "But you can't tell anyone. She said – she said she'd do to Remus what she did to me if I tell anyone and if you go around telling people . . . ." Harry swallowed, not wanting to think about it.

"Your secret's safe with me, Harry. What did she use?"

"A fireplace poker." Neville cringed.

"There are some plants in the greenhouses that can heal burns. Maybe we can sneak some in the castle."

"Thanks, Neville."

-

During Christmas, Harry pretending that nothing was bothering him. Remus was there, after all. He didn't want to worry him. Remus tried to hide the hate mail that continuously arrived so that Harry didn't become upset. It was Christmas after all, but apparently the rest of the Wizarding World didn't think that a 'sex-thirsty werewolf' deserved a break for the holidays.

Fred and George decided that the house needed to be livened up, so they thought up a few pranks. A few dangerous pranks on their part.

"Careful with that, Fred. We don't want to be stuck under it!" George whispered to his brother.

"I AM being careful! Oh, here he comes!" The twins Apparated away. Remus, in addition with the rest of the Order and (a few minutes later) Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, walked in. The twins sniggered as Remus took his usual seat which their prank was hovering over. Fred and George Apparated into the room, pretending that they had not just been hiding in the pantry, and took their seats. They tried not to grin evilly too much. No one realized anything was amiss until Remus tried to leave his chair. Nothing happened, not even Remus standing up. Comprehending that something was wrong, he tried to stand up again. It didn't work.

"What the - ?" Remus refrained from finishing his sentence. His gaze immediately snapped to the twins. "What did you do?" George pointed to what was above Remus's head. Remus looked up and saw floating mistletoe.

"We cursed that so whoever it's floating over will be stuck where they are until they're kissed," Fred announced, grinning. Remus glared at them and Sirius and Molly growled at him.

"You two are evil," Sirius growled angrily. The twins looked at him innocently.

"What?" Fred replied.

"It's pretty innocent. Not like he has to get shagged," George pointed out. Remus panicked as he sat there. Crap! Remus thought, What now? Harry rolled his eyes.

"That's the best you two could come up with?" Harry asked him. Remus wondered what the bloody hell was going through his boyfriend's head. The twins glanced at Harry with rather surprised expressions.

"You mean you're actually - ?" Fred said slowly. He and his twin exchanged looks and shrugged. "No one's a Gryffindor for nothing." Tonks, not really paying any attention to the little conversation between the three boys, made to stand up and help Remus out of his situation. Unfortunately for her, Harry beat her to it. Everyone just stared in shock, Moody and Snape, who was not present, being the only ones to ever see them kiss. Moody thought vaguely that it could've been worse. To Fred and George, it didn't look as bad as everyone made it out to be. Ginny actually made a sound that one usually makes when they think something's cute. Hermione and Molly stared wide-eyed along with Tonks whose heart broke in two. Ron, after a few seconds, covered his eyes, having reminded himself that he actually needed to get some sleep. Sirius debated whether or not he should talk to his godson about public displays of affection, but then again, he himself did it all the time back at school.

When Harry's lips left Remus's, he showed absolutely no sign of embarrassment. On the contrary, Remus's face looked like the sun at sunset and wondered slightly on what that look Harry was giving him was for. Harry left the kitchen and the mistletoe flew around the room. Everyone dashed out of the room in time.

When everyone was safe in the hallway, Tonks asked, "Wh-what was that?"

"Don't you read the Daily Prophet?" Remus questioned.

"I haven't had time lately. Why?"

"Harry and Remus's relationship has been in it for weeks. Remus is still getting hate mail," Sirius offered.

"Speaking of which . . . ," Mundungus railed off. Remus closed his eyes and didn't open them until the letter fell to the floor.

"Should I open that?" Remus asked the Order, all but Tonks and Kingsley aware of what might be in it. Moody eyed it warily with his magical eye.

"I don't see anything in it, but it might be charmed to be invisible," Moody said.

"Or it won't take a form until you open a letter. If I didn't know you, and if I were as mean as to send someone a hate letter during Christmas, that's what I would've done," Molly suggested.

"Er – thanks Molly," Remus replied, grateful that he was on Molly's side, even though she most certainly did not approve of his relationship with Harry.

"Oh, I'll open and we'll see what it'll do," Sirius said after a while. Sirius picked it up, but it slipped out of his fingers and flew over to Remus. The werewolf looked over at the prison escapee and they shared a look. "Why is this familiar?"

"I think Lily once sent James one of these letters in fifth year after the incident in the Entrance Hall. Or was it the third floor? I forget," Remus said.

"I think it was both, along with the Gryffindor Common room, the second floor, the first floor, the dungeons, the grounds, and the other floors," Sirius replied. Cautiously, Remus ripped it open. In two seconds, Remus found himself lying on the floor feeling like someone had just shot him in the face. There was a big red hand mark on his left cheek. The envelope disappeared and left the letter in Remus's hand. "Oh yeah, now I remember. Lily just sent him the envelope." Remus sat up and took a look at the letter. He wasn't sure why he read them; they all said the same thing. This one had many, many swearwords directed at him and basically bashed him for 'taking advantage of such a sweet little boy'. A troubled expression crawled onto Remus's face. What if these people had a point? He did think the same way about it when he first obtained his feelings for Harry. What if it was so wrong it couldn't be looked over? "Hey, you okay, Remus?" Remus nodded and stood up.

"Uh, Sirius?" Moody said suddenly, his magical eye staring up at the ceiling. "You might want to have a talk with your godson because he has another one of those magazines that he had over the summer."

"WHAT?" Sirius and Remus shouted. Remus paled and hid his face in his hands. This wasn't happening. Sirius immediately ran up the stairs to where Harry was.

-

Remus paced his room, thinking franticly. Were they right? Was his relationship with Harry wrong? Was his love for him that horrible? Was the only reason Harry was thinking about having sex was because he had a thirty-five-year-old boyfriend? Remus sat down and buried his face into his hands. Did he really want to do that to him? He gulped. Sirius might kill him, but what if it was for the best? Sure, he'd be loveless for the rest of his life, but if he could protect Harry that way, he'd do it.

Hate mail does horrible things to the mind.

Remus nervously waited outside the kitchen door. He had to do this. It was for the best. At least, he hoped it was for the best – his heart didn't think it was but . . . . He heard Harry laugh at something someone said and bit his lip. Exactly how would Harry take it? He hoped he'd get over it because he wasn't sure if he himself could. Harry and Ron exited the kitchen at that moment.

"Harry," Remus said. Harry stopped and smiled at him, "we need to talk." Harry nodded and followed Remus up the stairs. Ron shrugged, not understanding the cliché sentence. Remus walked up the stairs until they had reached the attic.

"What's this about, Remus?" Harry asked, still smiling and not suspecting a thing. "And why do we have to talk about it in the attic?" Remus bit his lip again and almost made it bleed.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you. I – I don't think – we should . . . see each other anymore."

Harry frowned. "W-what do you mean?" Harry questioned, hoping he misheard him. Remus debated whether he should be blunt. His boyfriend back in his school years sure was blunt, and he, Remus, didn't get over it for weeks.

"What I mean is . . . ." Remus paused before telling Harry.

Harry's reaction scared him. It wasn't anything he had ever seen before, not with Sirius's girlfriends, not with himself, not with anyone. Harry just put his hands into his pockets and stared at a patch of dust on the floor.

"Okay," Harry practically spat out. "Okay. I get it. You lied at the end of third year." He looked up at him and Remus expected to see anger or hate, but he didn't see anything in the boy's eyes. Not even heartbreak. And this was Harry. "Did you lie about - ?" He didn't will himself to finish, maybe because he didn't want to know. Harry dashed out of the room, Remus let out the breath he had been holding, and he wondered what exactly he had done.

-

Harry sat in his and Ron's room after that. Ron entered the bedroom and blinked at his best mate.

"Harry? You okay?" Ron asked. Harry didn't look at him. "Harry? Can you hear me?" He didn't reply. "Harry!" Harry closed his eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry muttered, his broken heart bleeding like there was no tomorrow. The life slowly drained out of his eyes. Ron respected his friend's choice and said nothing more on the matter. He didn't know what was wrong, but Harry would tell him eventually. He hoped he would, anyway.

The next day, Hermione asked Harry what was troubling him. Why else would Harry actually be reading his school books? She was slightly hurt when he didn't respond. "Harry, please, I'd like to help," she said, reaching out to touch his hand. He flinched involuntarily.

"You can't," Harry whispered almost inaudibly. Hermione looked worriedly at her friend when an idea hit her, an idea she prayed wasn't true.

"H-Harry, did Lupin do something to - ?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

-

Furious, Hermione stormed into the kitchen where Remus, Sirius, Molly, and Arthur were.

"What did you do?" Hermione shrieked. Everyone looked up at her.

"What did who do?" Arthur asked.

"Lupin! That's who! What did you do to Harry?"

Sirius and Molly immediately glared at Remus. Remus coughed into his hand. Damn it. Remus mumbled his answer. Sirius exploded first.

"What did you break up with him for?" Sirius bellowed, standing up. Remus also stood up and backed away from Sirius a little bit, even though he was on the other side of the very long table. Remus mumbled his reply to that, taking a step backward as he did. Knowing Sirius and Molly, they were going to attack him. Molly lost it next.

"HATE MAIL IS NO REASON TO DO THAT TO HIM!" Molly screamed. Remus really thought he ought to run now, but his legs weren't listening to his brain, and ninety percent of his brain knew that he deserved the beating that Sirius and Molly had in store for him. Sirius, though, surprisingly, seemed to have his anger deflate as he sat back down.

"Cool down, Molly. Remus has had this kind of problem ever since . . . forever, I think. I mean, Snape and the other Slytherins thinking he's a git made in Hell's one thing, but the entire Wizarding World? That hasn't happened before now," Sirius said. "That doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in you, Remus. But . . . ." Whatever the 'but' was, Remus didn't find out because Sirius didn't finish his sentence.

Remus still had to run from Molly anyway. Chapter Twelve: Heartbreak Bad

Harry didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he did it. He didn't know why he wanted to do it again. He bit his lip, staring at his arm. Blood dripped from it and splashed onto the floor. The letters 'F', 'R', and 'E' were engraved in his arm. His eyes, once full of light that made them look like his mother's, covered with a dull, dark, depressing veil. Harry couldn't lift it on his own. He held the dagger limply in his hand. Harry heard the footsteps of someone coming up the stairs. He hid the dagger under the bed and covered his arm with his sleeve. Sirius appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Harry," Sirius said. Harry looked up at him. "Sorry about Remus." The boy gulped. He didn't want to talk about him. "You want to talk about it?" Harry shook his head. Sirius sat down next to his godson and draped an arm around him. "That's okay." He held Harry close to him, offering the little comfort he could give him. "It'll turn out all right in the end, Harry. Trust me." Harry carefully made sure his bleeding arm didn't touch Sirius in case he felt the wetness. "Where'd that pool of blood come from?"

"Kreacher," Harry lied. "Apparently he thinks that some ritual done in this room involving a vial of blood will cause all the cleaning to stop." Sirius seemed to buy Harry's story.

"I knew that elf was crazy." They were quiet for a few moments. "School starts up again soon." Harry nodded. "Are you happy about it?" Harry closed his eyes.

"I don't feel anything at the moment." Sirius held onto his godson tighter.

"You'll feel better sooner or later, Harry. Please believe it."

-

Harry entered Snape's office and closed the door behind him. Snape explained what Occulmency was. Harry only nodded, which was not like the usual Harry, which annoyed him. He liked it when things were consistent. Dumbledore's obsession with Muggle sweets was consistent. Black turning everything topsy-turvy was consistent, even though that meant that nothing else was. Potter annoying the hell out of him by being like his father was supposed to stay consistent!

"Legilimus!" Snape shouted. Snape entered Harry's head and came across a small barrier around certain thoughts. The odd thing was that Snape knew that Harry didn't know what Occulmency was until that moment, so why would he have a barrier over some of his thoughts? Snape tried to push through it, which was difficult, but he managed it. The first memory that came to him was of something he hadn't seen in years.

"Harry," Remus said. Harry stopped and smiled at him, "we need to talk." Harry nodded and followed Remus up the stairs. Remus walked up the stairs until they had reached the attic.

"What's this about, Remus?" Harry asked, still smiling and not suspecting a thing. "And why do we have to talk about it in the attic?" Remus bit his lip again and almost made it bleed.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you. I – I don't think – we should . . . see each other anymore."

Harry frowned. "W-what do you mean?" Harry questioned, hoping he misheard him.

"What I mean is . . . ." Remus paused. "I mean that we shouldn't be together anymore . . . as us."

Harry put his hands into his pockets and stared at a patch of dust on the floor.

"Okay," Harry practically spat out. "Okay. I get it. You lied at the end of third year." He looked up at him, no emotion in the boy's eyes. Not even heartbreak. "Did you lie about - ?" About loving me? He didn't will himself to finish, maybe because he didn't want to know. Harry dashed out of the room.

Snape was suddenly thrown into another memory.

A dagger dug into the skin on Harry's arm. It wrote the letters 'A' and 'K', making the word 'FREAK' on it.

"PROGETO!" Snape felt himself pushed out of Harry's mind and stumbled on the office floor. Harry had fallen to the ground during the memory. Snape, disturbed by the last memory, was about to order him to stand up when he heard something. It sounded like a sob. Snape couldn't imagine the Boy-Who-Lived crying.

"Potter?" Snape asked.

"Why did he break up with me?" Harry said suddenly, looking up at his professor. Snape was shocked at how hurt and vulnerable the boy looked at that moment. Snape tried not to say what he was thinking, which was "er . . . ." Harry shook his head and stood up, no sign of having broken down on his face. "Pretend I never said anything."

-

Snape ran to the McGonagall's office. He received some surprised looks from some of the students who had known him longer and knew that Snape never ran. "Professor McGonagall! McGonagall!" She turned the corner and Snape almost ran into her.

"Severus, what - ?" McGonagall couldn't finish her sentence because Snape pulled her into the closest empty classroom.

"You told the teachers to come to you if Potter ever said anything." McGonagall's eyes widened at this.

"He – he said something?" McGonagall said, delightfully surprised.

"He wanted to know why Lupin broke up with him," Snape answered truthfully. McGonagall's face fell.

"He – he didn't tell the boy why he - ?" McGonagall watched Snape shake his head.

-

McGonagall dressed herself in a traveling cloak. "You can't leave me like this!" Snape shouted, terrified at the prospect of teaching both his own classes and hers. This was very, very inconsistent. "You can't expect me to do this for you!"

"You'll have to do it if I'm to go and make Remus talk to Harry," McGonagall snapped impatiently. "You'll just have to manage." McGonagall took a handful of Floo powder.

"WAIT! DON'T LEAVE ME! MCGONAGALL!" That was the most inconsistent thing Snape had ever said in his entire life. Snape had no choice but watch her disappear in the green flames. Cursing, Snape left her office only to meet the fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors. Everyone but Harry looked at him with raised eyebrows and shocked expressions.

"Why were you - ?" Malfoy started.

"It wasn't what it sounded like! Yes, I'm going insane! No more questions! Go to class!" The inconsistency was going to kill Snape. First Lupin and Potter started dating (inconsistent event number 1), second having to listen to everyone talking about Lupin and Potter's relationship (inconsistent event number 2), then Potter being unresponsive to everything around him and not annoying the hell out of him in the normal way (inconsistent event number 3), now this! Snape actually let out a scream once the hall had cleared out.

-

Months, and many classes, later, Harry sat in the Room of Requirement, waiting. Professor McGonagall had returned and told him to wait there. He didn't know why yet. Suddenly, McGonagall and Remus entered. On the outside, Harry only stared. On the inside, Harry felt his heart's wounds slash open again. Just looking at Remus made him hurt. The bastard had to leave him! He knew it was his, Harry's, fault, but he didn't know what he did to make Remus break up with him.

Harry didn't want to admit it, but he missed tasting Remus's mouth which seemed as though it was made of nothing but chocolate. He missed Remus's arms around him and feeling his breath on his lips, making him wanting more. He missed hearing those three words being said with that enchanting, wonderful voice. He missed feeling vulnerable yet safe at the same time. What Harry hadn't wanted, what Harry was surprised hadn't killed him, was Remus drawing him into that feeling of helplessness and safety and pushing him out of his haven, still feeling vulnerable and bleeding all over the cold stone floor of rejection.

McGonagall left the two of them in there. Harry looked away from Remus, staring at the bare wall. The only things that McGonagall had thought into the room were two chairs. Remus took a seat almost hesitantly. Harry felt a surge of anger flair up in him. Why should he feel awkward about this? He was the one who ended it all!

"Harry?" Remus said quietly. Remus was reminded of how he had sounded the morning after Snape had discovered he was a werewolf. "Severus?" a sixteen-year-old Remus asked. Severus glared at him. "What?" the Slytherin spat. Remus ignored the pang of hurt in his heart. "Are you okay?" he replied. Severus bit his lower lip, still glaring. "You have no business asking me that, werewolf," Severus hissed in a low voice. Remus blinked, confused. "Severus - ." "Stay away from me! I never want you to be near me again!" Remus felt his heart shatter. Tears sprung into his eyes. "O-okay," Remus said, accepting Severus's rejection. He walked away and bunked into Sirius not long after that. Tears running down his cheeks, he punched Sirius before running up the stairs toward the Gryffindor Tower and planning to stay there for a long time.

Harry didn't reply like Snape had. He didn't reply at all, not for six full hours. McGonagall knocked and asked what was happening. "Absolutely nothing. He's not talking to me," Remus said honestly. McGonagall poked her head in and received the surprise that he had told the truth. She said nothing about it; she just closed the door and let them have as much time as possible. Remus faintly heard her scolding students for trying to listen in.

Two hours later

"What did I do?" Harry asked finally, turning to look at him. Remus blinked and his frown deepened. He thought he did something to make him break up with him? Tears began rolling down Harry's cheeks and sobs escaped him. In one movement it seemed, Remus walked over to Harry and took him into his arms and let him cry into his shoulder.

"You didn't do anything, Harry," Remus assured, petting the boy's head comfortingly with his hand. "It was all my fault. I let the hate mail get to me and they convinced me I was hurting you, and I just wasn't thinking clearly."

Harry looked up at him. "You – you broke up with me over – over hate mail?" Harry choked out, still crying.

"I'm sorry." Remus and Harry looked into each other's eyes and Harry decided that he couldn't take it anymore. He kissed him passionately, weaving his tongue into the man's mouth. He gently grabbed his wrists and led his hands downward. Remus only took his hands back when he realized Harry was making him undo his belt. "Harry," Remus said, breaking the kiss, "you're too young for me touching you there."

"I don't care," Harry whispered. "It's my body. I can let anything I want happen to it. And I'm tired of everyone saying I'm too young. Everyone says I'm too young for everything."

Remus cupped a hand around Harry's cheek. "When you're seventeen, I'll do whatever you want me to do to you." Harry blushed contently.

"No holding back?"

"That's right." Harry kissed him again, arms around his neck. Remus moved down to Harry's neck. The boy groaned happily.

"I love you," Harry whispered, wishing Remus would just make love to him already instead of waiting two whole years. Remus paused.

"I love you, too. And I'll never hurt you like that ever again." He continued kissing Harry's neck, leaving red marks that wouldn't disappear until tomorrow at noon. Remus's hand brushed against Harry's right arm. He stopped. He put some distance between him and Harry, and Harry froze. Remus saw what Harry had done to his own skin. The scars were fading, surprisingly, but one could still read the word. "H-Harry?" The boy took his arm back and quickly covered the scars. Remus looked into the boy's face. "D-did you - ?" Harry slowly nodded. Remus gently grabbed Harry's arm, wishing that he hadn't been so weak when facing the hate mail. "W-was it because I - ?" Harry closed his eyes.

"I – I'm sorry, Remus. I – I just - ." Whatever Harry just was, Remus never found out because he burst into tears again. "I couldn't get over you. I sometimes scared myself because of what I was thinking of doing. It was the only thing that I could do without loosing it or ending everything." Remus wasn't sure if he wanted to hear this.

"Oh, Harry," Remus whispered, hugging the boy. "I'm so, so sorry. Is it even possible to make it up to you?"

"Remus, all you need to do is love me. That's all. I can't live without it." Harry hugged him back. Remus felt tears leaking out of his own eyes. He just had to be a bastard. Whenever the outside world kept voicing one opinion all the time, he always had to lean toward trying to make the outside world accept him. This time it had come at a price. One he was never going to make again. To hell with them, Remus thought, to hell with them all. If they can't handle this, they can shove all their complaints up their asses.

-

Red Roses2: Review, flame, praise, critque, you know the drill. 


	13. Hurt and Comfort

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

-

Chapter Thirteen: Hurt and Comfort

When Harry had finished with his tale about what he had seen in the Pensieve, neither Sirius nor Remus spoke for a moment. "Harry, you shouldn't judge your father on what you saw there, Harry. He was only fifteen –."

"I'm fifteen! Or did you forget?" Remus was a little hurt from Harry's statement, but the memory must've been very difficult for Harry to understand, seeing that no one had ever mentioned this to him.

"Look Harry," said Sirius, "James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, you can understand that, can't you? I think James was everything Snape wanted to be – he was popular, he was good at Quidditch, good at pretty much everything. And Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts and James – whatever else he may have appeared to you, Harry – always hated the Dark Arts."

"Yeah," said Harry, "but he just attacked Snape for no good reason! Just because – just because you said you were bored!"

"I'm not proud of it," said Sirius quickly. At Harry's face, Remus wasn't sure if he believed his godfather.

"Harry, what you've got to understand is that your father and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did – everyone thought they were the height of cool – if they sometimes got a bit carried away -."

"If we were sometimes arrogant little berks, you mean," said Sirius. Remus couldn't help but smile.

"He kept messing up his hair!" Harry said in a pained voice, almost cringing at the memory. "If he thought that was going to get him a date with someone, he was sadly mistaken, I'm afraid."

Sirius and Remus burst out laughing.

"I'd forgotten he used to do that," said Sirius.

"Was he playing with the Snitch?" Remus asked Harry a tad bit too eagerly, which caused his boyfriend to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah . . . ," Harry answered. "I thought he was a bit of an idiot."

"Of course he was a bit of an idiot!" said Sirius. "We were all idiots! Well, not Moony so much," he said fairly, looking at Remus, but before Remus could even shake his head, Harry interrupted.

"You didn't even bother to tell them off!" Harry accused, turning to his boyfriend. Remus blinked at the surprising amount of hurt in his eyes. "You let Sirius and my dad act like a couple of bullies!"

"Harry - ," Remus started, but hesitated, which wasn't a good idea seeing that Harry interrupted again.

"I'm actually surprised Mum married him!"

"About that -," Sirius began but Remus held up a hand to silence him.

"Harry, James didn't grow up like you did. He grew up in a normal way and it took him longer to mature. You're different than most people your own age, and I'm not talking about having fought Voldemort more times than anyone else or surviving the Killing Curse with only a scar on your forehead. Most children don't grow up as orphans with their terrible aunt and uncle raising them and their cousin using them as a punching bag. And most children don't have the Daily Prophet harping on them every minute of importance in their lives. It seems worse to you because you've matured very well for a fifteen-year-old. Your father didn't mature until he turned seventeen, and he still wasn't the man who sacrificed his life for his wife and son on that Halloween night Voldemort tried to kill you. So of course he was an immature idiot. The reason I didn't stop him was because of a fear that I didn't get rid of until just recently. I was afraid of being turned away from for what I thought was right." Harry suddenly realized when exactly Remus overcame with his fear: when he got back together with him.

Feeling a bit better, Harry continued to question them. "Did he ever stop bullying Snape?"

"Er . . . ," Sirius said, giving a side-glance to Remus. "No, not really." Harry rolled his eyes.

"Why did Mum marry him when she hated him?"

"Nah, she didn't," Sirius said.

"She started going out with him in seventh year," said Remus.

"Once James had deflated his head a bit."

"And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it. Now that I think of it, how did Snape react when he found out you'd seen all this?" Harry stayed quiet for a moment.

"He told me he'd never teach me Occlumency again," Harry said, about to add, "like that's a big disappointment", but got cut off.

"He WHAT?" shouted Sirius.

"Are you serious, Harry? He's stopped giving you lessons?" Remus said, looking very worried. Harry just nodded.

"I'm coming up there to have a word with Snape!" Sirius stood up, but Remus pulled him back down.

"If anyone's going to tell Snape it'll be me! But, Harry, first of all, you're to go back to Snape and tell him that on no account is he top stop giving you lessons. When Dumbledore hears - ."

"I can't tell him that, he'd kill me! You didn't see him when we got out of the Pensieve!"

"Harry," Remus replied seriously, "you have to understand. Occlumency is very important for you to learn. I'm not allowed to tell you why for two reasons – one: Molly would kill me and two: it's Order business – but you have to take it!" Harry knew he was defeated. Remus looked rather worried that he wasn't going to go and ask Snape.

"Okay, I'll tell him, but he sure as Hell isn't going to like it," Harry said. Remus sighed in relief. Sirius, on the other hand, crossed his arms and looked disgruntled.

"How come he listens to you and not me?" Sirius pouted. Remus and Harry burst out laughing. Suddenly, Harry stopped.

"Is that Kreacher?" Sirius looked around.

"No, must be on your end."

"I've got to go!"

-

Remus entered Snape's office. Snape looked up from his papers. It was only when Remus turned around and opened his mouth to talk with Snape did he realize someone else was in the room. Umbridge sat at Snape's desk. She turned her head around.

"And why is this seductive werewolf here, Severus?" Umbridge asked, glancing at the fireplace. Remus glared at her.

"I'm sure we'll find out, won't we?" Snape said indifferently, his mouth going into a thin line like it did back in third year when Remus and Harry's relationship started. "What is it?"

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Dumbledore specifically told you to -," Remus started, but Snape interrupted.

"On the contrary, Lupin, I did do what Dumbledore told me to do. I just drew a line," Snape retorted. Umbridge opened her mouth to ask what they were talking about when Remus replied.

"This is important, Snape! Do you want him to win?"

"Oh, you're one to talk about loyalties. Yes, sleeping with your best mate's son and your other best mate's godson is very loyal of you."

"You weren't complaining about my loyalty when I was dating you."

"For some stupid prank's purpose which, unfortunately, I didn't find out until I almost got myself ripped apart."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I had nothing to do with that?"

"Quite a lot since no one but Sirius Black, James Potter, and Dumbledore really trust you, and one of them is dead and even if he wasn't, you're dating his son, so that would narrow it down to two." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Getting back to the point, I don't care if Harry found out you wear pink thongs, you have to continue teaching him this!"

"Do you look like my boss? I don't think so, meaning that you can't tell me what to do, Lupin."

"What I do have is a lot of blackmail on me. I don't think certain students would mind listening to a werewolf if they could ruin you."

"Answers no, Lupin. Now, if you don't mind, I'm busy at the moment." Snape and Remus glared at each other for a long while before Remus left the office. So much for that.

-

"There's nothing you can do, Harry."

"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"

"It's too late, Harry."

"We can still reach him!"

Harry fought Remus but Remus held on tighter.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry . . . nothing . . . . He's gone."

"He hasn't gone! SIRIUS! SIRIUS!"

"He can't come back, Harry. He can't come back, because he's d -."

"HE – IS – NOT – DEAD! SIRIUS!" Remus pulled Harry away from the veil, hoping that Harry would realize that he was telling the truth.

"Harry, please," Remus started out, but wasn't sure what else to say. Harry suddenly broke out of Remus's grip and ran after Bellatrix. "HARRY! NO!" Remus ran after Harry, hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid.

-

Remus walked along the Hogwarts grounds, looking for Harry. He needed to find him. Some of the students who walked by stared after him and started whispering things about him, but he didn't care. He just needed to find Harry.

"Hey, Professor Lupin," greeted someone. Remus turned around and saw that Neville was coming up to him.

"Hello, Neville," said Remus, slightly surprised.

"Last I saw Harry, he was walking towards Hagrid's, if you're looking for him."

"Thanks, Neville."

"Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Just to let you know, I think it's good that you and Harry love each other. Gran might scream her head off about it, but I support it. I know you're not like the Daily Prophet makes you out to be."

"Thank you very much, Neville." Remus couldn't help but smile to himself. "I guess I'll see you later."

"'Bye, Professor Lupin!"

Remus walked toward Hagrid's hut, but he didn't have to wait for long because Harry exited the hut and walked out onto the grounds. "Harry!" Harry stopped in his tracks at the familiar voice. He looked at Remus and froze. The werewolf stepped up to him. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Good afternoon, Harry."

"Hi," Harry muttered, not looking at him. Remus knelt down; he was still taller than Harry by a lot.

"How are Ron, Hermione, and Ginny?"

"Getting better." Remus drew Harry closer to him and gave him a big hug.

"Do you want to talk about him?" Harry knew he was talking about Sirius.

"No." Harry replied, tears building up in his eyes. "Y-you?"

"If you don't want to, I won't force you to listen."

"That's not really fair for you."

"That's all right." They were quiet for a moment.

"How can you stand talking to me? It's partly my fault Sirius is . . . gone. And he was your best mate and – and . . . ." Harry broke down into tears. Remus held him as he cried onto his shoulder. Remus didn't bother in telling Harry that it was okay, that everything would be all right.

"Harry, I'd still love you and talk to you even if Sirius's death was completely your fault." Harry looked up at him, opened his mouth to say something, either decided against it or couldn't think of anything to say, closed it, and pulled away from him. Harry wiped his remaining tears away.

"Really?"

"Really." Harry's lips brushed against Remus's for a light kiss.

"Thanks."

-

Red Roses2: You know the drill. Review, flame, praise, critique. Whatever. 


	14. The Werewolves

Red Roses2: Gasp! I'm still alive! LoL I hope you like it. I know it's been a while.

-

Chapter Fourteen: The Werewolves

Remus stood among the group of werewolves, about to do Order work.

"Where was that place again?" a gruff werewolf grumbled grumpily.

"We have ta wait here fer tha' Greyback fella," replied another one.

"What if we don't want to wait?" said a third. Remus mentally prayed that a fight wasn't going to break out.

"You don't have to wait any longer then," said a voice that Remus would, from now on, recognize as a horrible evil voice, more evil than Voldemort's. Remus turned around and saw Greyback. "Right this way." They followed Greyback to a Muggle sewer cap(?). Greyback lifted it up and leaped in. The others followed him one by one. Remus tried not to hesitate, but one couldn't help but wonder exactly what was in there.

"Move it!" demanded someone behind Remus. Before Remus could comply, he felt himself pushed into the doorway to the sewers. Unluckily, Remus ended up falling on his back, so that he was covered in sewer water. He was beginning to hate London.

Remus walked down the sewer, getting his Muggle clothes dry the best he could; Ginny had helped him decide what to wear. Remus smiled to himself as he remembered what she had said. Ginny held up a pair of leather pants. "Hey! You could wear these! It practically repels water!" Remus and Molly raised an eyebrow at her. "Why pants?" Molly asked her daughter suspiciously. "So he won't just have to wear them when he's pretending to be a Muggle," Ginny answered, winking at Remus. Remus stood there, not comprehending. The youngest Weasley rolled her eyes. "So he can also wear it when Harry's around." Finally getting the idea, Remus turned a bright red. "Ginny!" Remus said, Fred, George, Ron, and Tonks laughing their heads off in the background.

"Hey! You! Pay attention!" Remus snapped out of his reverie. Greyback put a hand on the shoulder of the werewolf who had just shouted at Remus.

"Easy, there. No need to be hostile to one another. We're all the same. Cursed and hated for no reason but the fact that we're cursed," Greyback said, "and we all want to get them back for that." Greyback removed his hand off of the werewolf and continued walking. Remus watched him until he disappeared into the shadows before following.

Greyback halted in his speech on how Voldemort would help them get revenge. "What's that smell?" Greyback asked. Everyone sniffed the air. Remus froze. Damn it!

"Isn't that the smell of teenaged boy?"

"Human teenaged boy."

"Almost sixteen," Greyback added, "and for some reason has a natural scent of lilies. Now, where could this smell be coming from?" Remus shifted away from the werewolf next to him who was now sniffing Remus. Greyback noticed and swiftly made his way over to Hogwarts's favorite werewolf. "Lupin, is there something you wish to tell us?"

"Not really," Remus replied coldly. He really didn't want to use the excuse he had thought of in case this happened.

"You haven't been friendly with humans, have you?" Greyback raised an eyebrow. Remus glared at him.

"If 'friendly' includes shagging random boys, then yes. If not, then no," Remus mentally cringed and felt like hitting himself. He thanked God that Rita Skeeter wasn't there to quote him. Remus received surprised looks. "What? Werewolves have to get sex from somewhere." He felt like a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Greyback suddenly broke into a grin. Remus unwillingly noted that Greyback had been the most surprised of them all.

"That's brilliant, Lupin. The younger they are, the less likely they are to go running to Mummy and alerting the entire Wizarding world." Remus grinded his teeth together behind his closed lips. He managed a sadistic smirk. Just thinking of putting that on his face made Remus want to puke. "Nice way to pay humans back, too. Take their children's virginity away. Brilliant. Pure dead brilliant."

Greyback walked away from Remus and took his seat again. Remus forced himself with all of his self control not to glare.

Remus couldn't stand it. Greyback angered and disgusted him in every way. Greyback thought him just as sadistic as himself, when, in fact, they were far from alike. Greyback was more sadistic than Remus had thought his excuse on how he smelled like sixteen-year-old boy to be. Remus forced himself not to think about it, but he began having nightmares about everything that Greyback had done in front of the whole group. Greyback wanted to poison their minds, make them turn to Voldemort, cause them to destroy all non-werewolves whether wizard, witch, Muggle, child, woman, or man. Occasionally, one or a dozen vampires would drop by like it was some sort of Dark creature seminar. Remus didn't know how Snape could be a double agent without having a traitorous heart that found pleasure in destroying trust.

He thought about what James would say about it. He thought about what Sirius's comments would be. He thought about Harry and how he'd feel about what he was faking to believe in. Oh, Harry, how Remus wished he was back from the Dursleys already. He needed him to turn to. He knew that saying that you needed a sixteen-year-old was an irresponsible thing to say or even think, but it was true. He thought he'd loose his mind if he didn't talk about what Greyback was doing to someone.

Remus refrained from mentioning it to Dumbledore and the Order, though. Snape, being a Legilimus and having no respect for a werewolf's personal thoughts, already knew about his troubles. He had cornered him one day.

"Honestly, Lupin, grow a backbone. Potter can't solve everything for you," Snape had said venomously. Snape had sounded more angry and bitter than he should've had on the subject, but Remus didn't press it. An angry Snape was never something one wanted to goad.

"I know that, Snape," Remus had replied half-heartedly. "But how do you do it without going insane?" Snape had said nothing in reply, not then, not now.

Remus sighed to himself and stared up at the half moon in the sky. It was Harry's birthday tonight, making him officially sixteen. He had sent him a birthday card via Tonks's owl earlier. Now that Tonks had recovered from the initial shock, she was just as, if not more, supportive as Hermione and Ginny. Remus's face broke out into a smile as he remembered Tonks saying that she would be more than happy to help with the wedding, which caused Ginny to get excited and they had been going back and forth thinking of ideas and sharing them with everyone. Moody and Kingsley had burst out laughing when Ginny actually suggested pink tablecloths. Molly had, and still, wondered aloud to herself whether she should discourage her daughter's more-than-ready approval. Ron had been plugging his ears whenever the subject came up and tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

Laughing out loud, Remus checked the streets before Apparating away.

"'Arry," Fleur greeted warmly, a smile that Harry felt like he had seen before. "Eet 'as been too long!"

"There was no need to bring the tray, I was just about to do it myself!" Mrs. Weasley said exasperatedly.

"Eet was no trouble. I 'ave been longing to see 'im. You remember my seester, Gabrielle? She never stops talking about 'Arry Potter. She will be delighted to see you again."

"Oh . . . is she here too?" Harry croaked.

"No, no, silly boy. I mean next summer, when we – but do you not know?"

"We hadn't got around to telling him yet," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Bill and I are going to be married!"

"Oh, wow! Congratulations!" Harry said and received glares from the women other than Fleur. Was he not supposed to say that?

"Thank you for saying that, 'Arry." Fleur looked a bit worried.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked, oblivious. Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley stopped glaring and suddenly became apprehensive.

"Eh, yes, but I'll tell you later." Fleur gave him a small kiss on the cheek and she walked out. Harry tilted his head to the side, finding it rather odd for her not to just bring it up in front of the Weasleys and Hermione.

"'Arry, can you 'elp me with ze dishes?"

"Sure, Fleur. Why not?" Harry replied, standing up. Bill gave his fiancée a warning look. Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth to say that Harry shouldn't need to do chores when he was a guest, but Fleur interrupted.

"Eet's to geeve you a break, Molly. Beesides, I need to talk to 'Arry."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Mrs. Weasley admitted. Fleur ignored her comment.

"So 'Arry," Fleur started as the Boy-Who-Lived picked up a rag and a soapy dish. "I 'eard that you are dating a thirty-six-year-old man."

"You heard right," Harry said, hoping this wasn't going where he thought it was going.

"Well, ees eet your choice? Or ees 'e being oppressive and sedahctive?"

Harry clenched the glass he was drying tightly.

"Why would you think that he's seductive and oppressive?" Harry said slowly, wondering whether he was going to start shouting. He loathed it when people said these things about Remus.

"Well, 'e's a werewolf and all. 'E's also thirty-six. That's tuweenty years older than you."

"So?"

Bill and Mrs. Weasley stood outside the door, waiting for when they should interrupt.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

"No, and you want to know something about it? I was the one who started this relationship. Not Remus, me. So I'd appreciate it if you and everyone else would just stop hating him for it!" Harry's grip broke the glass he was holding. Fleur gave a gasp that could've been a shriek; Bill and Mrs. Weasley jumped, and Harry took a deep breath through his teeth, wincing at the pain that was now in his palm.

Harry had to laugh at Mrs. Weasley's expression at the fact that Remus was actually talking about Order stuff during Harry's sixteenth birthday celebration. Remus looked gaunt and grim, his hair with more gray hairs than Ron thought was possible for a thirty-six-year-old (which was the comment that earned Ron a steely glare that made Ron shrink in his seat), and his clothes were more ragged and patched than ever.

"There have been another couple of dementor attacks," he said. Mrs. Weasley looked at him exasperatedly. Harry tried not to laugh. "And they've found Igor Karkaroff's body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it – well, frankly, I'm surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters; Sirius's brother, Regulus, only managed a few days as far as I can remember."

"Yes, well," said Mrs. Weasley, "perhaps we should talk about something diff – ."

"Did you hear about Florean Fortescue, Remus?" Bill asked, Fleur's face mirroring Mrs. Weasley's at the mention of more negative events. "The man who ran - ."

"- the ice-cream place in Diagon Alley?" Harry interrupted, no signs of laughter on his face now. "What happened to him?"

"Dragged off, by the look of his place."

"Why?" Ron asked. Mrs. Weasley and Fleur both glared at Remus and Bill.

"Who knows? He must've upset them somehow. He was a good man, Florean."

"Speaking of Diagon Alley," said Mr. Weasley, "looks like Ollivander's gone too."

"The wandmaker?" said Ginny.

"That's the one. Shop's empty. No sign of a struggle. No one knows whether he left voluntarily or was kidnapped."

"But wands – what'll people do for wands?"

"They'll make do with other makers," said Remus. "But Ollivander was the best, and if the other side got him it's not so good for us."

"That's enough!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. "This isn't the time for all that talk! Remus, it's your boyfriend's birthday party! You can at least wait until after dinner to talk about that!" Remus looked a little guilty at the sound of that.

"It's okay. I'm not complaining," Harry assured both Mrs. Weasley and Remus. "Speaking of that, has anyone else been giving you any trouble about our relationship?" Remus stayed unusually quiet for a while. "Remus . . . ."

"Just Fleur with accusatory glares, then again, Molly used to give them to me along with Moody, McGonagall, and Snape."

"Oh yeah, Moody. He was hilarious last year! Remember what he said every time you were about to step out of the room and go upstairs to say hi to Harry?" Bill asked. "'Don't you think about it.' 'What? I'm not going to do anything naughty to him! Sirius, help!' . . . . . 'Sirius.'" Bill, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Mr. Weasley, and Harry burst out laughing. Mrs. Weasley's and Fleur's mouths twitched upward and Remus let out an exasperated sigh. "That was until everyone thought Remus was less of a danger to Harry than Harry's thoughts about sex."

Remus blushed and Harry glared at him. "Shut up. Does the word 'fifteen' mean anything to you?" Harry said.

"Zat was last year?"

"Yeah, Sirius and Moody were awfully funny about it. 'Uh, Sirius? You might want to have a talk with your godson because he has another one of those magazines that he had over the summer.' 'WHAT!' Then Sirius dashed up the stairs."

"Wait, that was Moody's fault? And I found it in Fred and George's stuff, but I didn't see them get into trouble!"

-

After the party and everyone was getting into bed, Remus still hadn't left. "Harry," Remus whispered, not wanting to wake up anyone. "I'd like to talk to you for a little bit if that's okay."

"Sure it is, Remus. What is it?" Harry sat back down at the kitchen table. Remus sat back down as well.

"Well . . . ." Remus told Harry all about his troubles with Greyback. Harry frowned. "I don't expect you to be able to fix it, but I just thought you ought to know." Remus looked up at Harry and immediately felt the sixteen-year-old's lips press against his. Remus deepened the kiss almost instantly, enjoying the taste of his mouth. Harry groaned contently as Remus's arms wrapped themselves around Harry's waist. The boy's fingers caressed the werewolf's neck and traveled down his chest, stopping over Remus's heart. When they parted, Remus couldn't help but smile. "I love you."

"I love you too, Remus. Do what you have to do for the Order, as long as you live I don't really care." Harry kissed him again, having missed his beloved werewolf over the summer. "Do we have to wait until I'm seventeen?" Remus knew he was talking about sex.

"Yes." Harry made a disappointed sound. "But it'll be worth the wait."

-

"Hey! Harry!" Ginny said, picking up one of the bottles that said "One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable (side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling). Not for sale under-sixteens". "You should get this! That way you won't have to bug Remus about it!"

"Ginny!" Harry said, blushing. Ron plugged his ears, hating every mention of Harry's relationship. He might not be worried about it anymore, but it still grossed him out.

"Now, now, Ginny," came the voice of Fred, "there is such thing as having too much approval."

"Yeah," said George who appeared next to his twin. "Tonks looks like she's just giving her blessings compared to you. How are you doing, Harry? What happened to your eye, Hermione?"

Hermione tried not to glare as she said, "Your punching telescope."

Fred said, "Oh blimey, I forgot about those. Here –." Fred gave her the tub and told her how to use it.

"What's Tonks doing?" Harry asked. Fred and George broke out into grins.

"She's your wedding planner! Didn't anyone tell you?" Fred said.

"It's going to look smashing once it actually happens," said George.

"Which will take forever seeing that it's illegal for sixteen-year-olds and under to get married."

"Then there's the war and you being the Chosen One and all – you'll be too busy fighting Voldemort to get married."

"And then there's the problem that none of us know how homosexual weddings go. Like, which one goes down the isle?"

"And are one of you going to need to be addressed as bride?"

Ron and Hermione burst out laughing. "Shut up!" Harry said, embarrassed.

-

"They're fairly cute, yes," said Fred to Ginny. "But you're moving through boyfriends a bit fast, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I mean, Harry's been dating the same guy since Halloween in his third year," George added.

"Can we stop bringing the subject up every five minutes?" Ron begged, voicing what Harry was thinking. Harry didn't like discussing it in public. He wasn't sure if Remus wanted his relationship with him discussed in a joke shop where about every wizard and witch child in Great Britain and their parents were visiting. "Please?"

"Are you homophobic or what, Ron?" Ginny snapped at him, annoyed. "You've had the same attitude about it ever since you first found out. Even Mum's changed her mind a bit!"

"I just don't want to talk about it constantly!" Ron retorted. "Is that a crime?"

"But you haven't been the least bit supportive about it!"

"Guess what, I don't have to be! Just like I don't have to be supportive of you dating Dean Thomas!"

"Does that mean that you'll leave me alone and let me date who I want? You've been leaving Harry alone and letting him date Remus." Ron looked like he was going to explode.

"No, that does NOT mean I'll leave you alone! There are several differences with your relationship and Harry's! One: you're my little sister! I'm supposed to be overprotective of you! Two: If I have to pick my friendship with Harry over being comfortable, then so be it! I've already been through a row on the subject and it wasn't very pretty. Three: - ."

"Ginny, please, let him drop the subject," Harry said, sighing.

-

Red Roses2: Please review, and hand out tips. Everyone who reviews gets a big triple-chocolate cookie to help ward off dementors! 


	15. Chapter 14

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

-

Chapter Fourteen: Greyback's Twisted Mind

Remus took a deep breath before stepping into the sewer. He held it as he walked down the underground hall. Ever since Greyback had dragged that poor Muggle down there, the hall smelled of blood. Remus couldn't stand the smell, mainly because he had just sat there and watched. He had to remind himself that he was there for a reason and that he couldn't just blow his cover. He had actually managed to get two werewolves to leave. Dumbledore would be having a meeting with them in a couple of days. He still had hope for one named Eric. He was a Muggle whose aunt had been a witch. It wasn't until he was bitten that Eric had ever had any problems with his aunt's status. After the bite, however, Eric said that his aunt had convinced everyone to fear him and throw him out; he had been fifteen-years-old. Remus shuddered at the thought. The problem with Eric was that he seemed to truly believe that everything Greyback said was truth. He almost didn't stop to listen to Remus. The only reason Remus believed he had a chance with Eric was because Eric hadn't turned him in to Greyback, at least not yet. He took that as the possibility Eric was thinking it over.

Remus entered the hidden chamber where the meetings were held. He halted and raised an eyebrow. Only Greyback stood there, not even with a trembling Muggle or Wizarding youngster held by the scruff wondering what would happen to him or her.

"Where are the others today?" Remus asked.

Greyback grinned sadistically.

"Oh, I just sent them to meet the Dark Lord in person. You know, to give them a chance to see if they really would like to become Death Eaters. After Samuel and Uruwel left, I realized that some of them have been loosing faith. Tell me, Remus, what do you think of that?" Greyback growled delightedly.

Remus thought about his answer for a moment.

"I think that those who leave merely don't have the backbone they thought they did," Remus said, and added, "the prats" for good measure.

Greyback smirked, sharp teeth glinting from his mouth. He walked deliberately until he stood in front of Remus. His tongue darted out of his mouth and licked his lips. Remus felt the urge to gag. A chill ran up his spine, bringing a feeling of foreboding. Remus's fight-or-flight system was reloading and preparing to shoot.

"Yes, that might be it," Greyback muttered, his breath floating up Remus's nostrils.

Remus forced his face to stay neutral, but a look of disgust was trying very hard to take over.

"I have a proposition for you, Remus."

"Yes?" Remus managed. He tried not to wince at the hesitancy in his voice. He was a spy, damn it! How DID Snape do it?

"How about . . . in addition to corrupting Wizarding youth . . . you and I decipher new ways of revenge?"

Remus tried to pretend to be relaxed, but he wasn't sure if he was successful.

"That sounds wonderful," Remus lied. "How you do suggest we do that?"

Remus fought back a shocked yelp, but he knew he couldn't hold back the eye-widening. Greyback's HAND was crawling up his LEG. He didn't know how he didn't notice any advance to that; it might've had something to do with the fact that Remus and Greyback barely had any space between them.

"You're a rather pretty wolf, you know," Greyback muttered.

Remus grabbed Greyback's wrist and removed his hand before it reached someplace else.

"My apologies, Greyback, but I only shag youth," Remus said, mentally vomiting. "I'm a bit of a pedophile that way."

The only thing that could make this worse would be if Rita Skeeter were there and quoted him saying that in the newspaper, falsely confirming the entire world's suspicions. Speaking of newspapers, didn't Greyback read them? Remus couldn't believe he hadn't recognized his name when he introduced himself.

Greyback grinned at him.

"Of course," he growled. "But if you change your mind . . . ."

Wheels began turning in Remus's head. Greyback walked away.

"Meeting's adjourned," the sadistic werewolf said.

Slowly, Remus left the room. He took a deep breath to help him keep his pace slow. He reached the sewer cap and left the sewer. As soon as he placed the cap back, he ran down the street, ignoring the stares he received as he went.

Of COURSE Greyback knew who he was! What kind of an idiot who grew up in the Wizarding world didn't? And did he just jeopardize the entire mission? Why couldn't Dumbledore have found some other werewolf, one who wasn't so well-known by now? Remus's head was spinning with worry and questions and panic. He was dead, dead, dead!

-

Remus's leg bounced up and down during the Order meeting. Tonks raised an eyebrow at him. Kingsley wasn't there; being the Muggle minister's secretary kept him surprisingly busy. Moody, Arthur, and Snape gave their reports. Tonks was supposed to give hers next, but she suggested Remus go ahead of her. Dumbledore nodded; no one couldn't notice Remus's nervousness. Remus put a hand on his thigh to keep it from bouncing and took a deep breath.

"You need a different spy for the werewolves," Remus said, looking miserable.

"Remus, I'm afraid that we - ," Dumbledore started, but Remus interrupted.

"Don't have any other werewolves in the Order, I know, but Greyback knows who I am! I mean, how could he not? He's not a Muggle werewolf like some of the others in there. I can't do this!"

Everyone was silent for a moment. Dumbledore put the tips of his fingers together and gazed downward. Arthur looked surprised for some reason, as did Tonks and Moody. Snape smirked. Slowly, very slowly, Snape started to chuckle. Then the chuckle turned into an all-out laugh, a cruel, mocking laugh. Dumbledore looked at Snape sternly.

"Lupin, that's pathetic. At least I know what you see in Potter," Snape taunted.

Remus sighed. "What do you mean?"

"The boy's half your age, but he never says, I can't do this! You're a grown man and complaining about a mere obstacle. Get the picture?" Snape laughed again, then hissed in pain and grabbed his forearm. "I have to go."

The Potions master swept out of the room, closing the door behind him. Remus thought about what Snape just said. He never says "I can't do this." Remus held his head. He was getting a headache.

-

Someone knocked rapidly on Snape's office door. The door opened a crack. He could barely see the person's face on the other side.

"What do you want?" Snape asked, opening the door more. The man's face fell at the look on the werewolf's face. He hadn't seen Remus look like that since their sixth year.

Remus entered and closed the door. Snape just stared as Remus failed to keep sobs inside, tears falling down the werewolf's face uncontrollably.

"Lupin, what happened?" Snape whispered, hoping that feeling wasn't returning. He didn't like Lupin anymore, damn it! And he was dating Potter!

All thoughts about love lives stopped there. Snape stared at Remus's robes, covered in blood. Bright red blood that smelled fresh, even to Snape.

"Greyback . . . he . . . he knows I'm not on his side . . . I told you I couldn't do this . . . I knew this wasn't going to work . . . I don't know what I'm going to do!"

"Rewind and tell me what happened, Lupin," Snape ordered.

Remus tried to regain composure, but that seemed impossible at this point. Snape wasn't sure what possessed him to, but he placed a hand on the werewolf's shoulder.

"Lupin," Snape said firmly, but that didn't seem to work. "Remus." The other man looked up at him. "What . . . happened?"

Remus took a deep breath, and said, "I killed two people last night."

Snape's brain froze. The first thought that went through his mind was: "Why'd he come to me then?"

"I've never killed anyone before. I didn't mean to. They attacked me first. But I still didn't mean to. I don't know if they could help it, but what am I supposed to do?" Remus continued. "You've done something like this before, right? Please, I know you don't like me, but please help me."

Snape stared at him for a little while longer.

"Who did you kill?"

"Two werewolves. Full moon, remember? Greyback . . . he convinced them to attack me. I . . . I don't remember very much, but I do remember tasting . . . tasting their . . . their blood."

Remus trailed off and collapsed into a chair. Snape processed that information. He walked the length of the room and took out some potions.

"None of that blood happens to be yours, does it?" Snape asked.

Remus made a vague hand motion over his hip area. Snape took a closer look and, indeed, there was a rip in the clothing and an open wound was underneath it. Snape poured a potion over it. Remus hissed in pain, but didn't react in any other way. Snape handed him another potion.

"That is to rejuvenate your senses. After taking that potion, you may want to take a nap. Preferably not in my quarters," Snape added.

Remus nodded as he swallowed the potion. Snape smirked; that could've been poison for all the werewolf knew. He frowned at the amount of trust that must've alluded to. Snape shook his head. That time was over with. The bastard was with Potter now, and he hated him. Didn't he? Yes, of course he did. He hated him ever since Lupin almost killed him. Right?

"Are you going to tell Potter?" Snape found himself saying. He wondered why the hell he wanted to know. He didn't care.

After a long silence, Remus said, "No."

"Why not?"

"Not ready."

"He'd want to know." Why did Snape feel like needling Lupin?

"I know. I just can't, not right now."

Snape nodded and went back to grading papers. Remus didn't leave the room. After thirty minutes, Snape looked up and saw that the werewolf had fallen asleep in the chair. Smirking, he looked back down at the papers, then frowned at whose paper he was up to. Potter's. He looked at Remus again. He felt that feeling again, the feeling he felt back in fifth year when Remus fell asleep in the library and there was a rumor going around that he and Black were a thing. A feeling that he didn't belong, but he wanted to belong, but for some reason held himself back. He looked back at the paper. After debating with himself, he gave Potter a higher grade that he normally would have done. Not that Potter would notice the nicety. Snape shook his head at the boy's audacity and went to the next paper.

-

Remus grunted slightly, then wondered what could possibly be stabbing him in the side. He opened his eyes and found Snape standing over him. Vision clearing, he remembered why he was there.

"There are extra robes in the closet. I suggest you drink a blood replenishing potion, then go speak with the Headmaster about last night's occurrence. I will be teaching until 2 o' clock. You better not still be here," Snape hissed, crossing the room and leaving the room.

Remus stood up, stiff, and stretched his arms. Flashes of last night sped through his mind and his shoulders slumped tiredly. He hadn't told Snape all of what happened . . . . . he wasn't sure he'd be able to tell Dumbledore what happened either . . . . . . or Harry . . . but he would have to tell Harry, wouldn't he? Sighing, Remus opened the closet, rolled his eyes at all the black, flowing robes, and tried to find something that wouldn't pass him off as a copy-cat. He supposed he shouldn't be picky, but really, as impressive as Snape's robes were, surely it wouldn't kill him to wear something else. Pushing two outfits aside, something in the back caught Remus's eye. On a brass coat hanger hung deep blue robes that most certainly didn't fit Snape now. Remus took it off its coat hanger and inspected it closer.

"I don't believe it. He still has this? I could've sworn he'd have burned it, especially since it's too small now," Remus said.

He enlarged it with his wand and changed into them.

-

Snape opened the door to his quarters, planning on hexing something. He halted in his steps, however, at the sight of a certain werewolf.

"What are you still doing here!?" Snape snapped.

Remus smiled sadly at him.

"I'm pathetic. Children have more backbone than I do. I admit it. But you, knowing me, after hearing all of what happened, might be able to understand and might be able to give me the kick out of the door I need."

Snape lowered himself into a chair, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. Hurry up then."

Remus took a deep breath.

"Greyback forced himself upon me."

Snape looked at him.

"As in he raped you?"

"No. I'd be more of a mess if he did."

Snape reasoned that anyone would be and it wasn't just because Remus didn't have backbone. The darker man still sat there with a disinterested look on his face.

"I told him to back off. That's what caused him to attack me. I still think that he knew who I was, but was willing to overlook it if he could . . . well . . . what we got up to before Sirius pulled that prank on you." Remus finished.

Snape looked at him, confused.

"You mean you really haven't done anything with Potter?" Snape asked.

"No, Severus. No, I have not."

They were silent for a minute. Snape stood up and strode over to Remus, leaned over him, and . . . as he similarly did to intimidate students . . . brought his nose awfully close to Remus's face.

"This still doesn't mean I've forgiven you or like you." Snape said.

Remus smirked slightly.

"Did I really expect you to? Despite the fact that it was not my fault?"

Snape suddenly received a flash of memory of their school days. Remus had been all over him back then. No, really. Snape noticed that Remus looked as though he was remembering, too. They looked at each other for a moment more, then Snape found Remus leaning forward, locking their lips together.

-

Remus paced up and down the next morning, Snape leaning on the bedpost in nothing but his leggings. The darker man gave Remus a look.

"You're never going to tell Potter about Greyback's advances or that little escapade, are you?"

Remus looked at him, exasperated.

"No, but do you have to say it like that? Like it didn't mean anything?"

"It didn't, Lupin. You know I don't think sex is anything. It's you who thinks that it's a mark of trust and love and, in this case, betrayal. I don't care what you do with your life."

"You said that - ."

"I love you?" That is indeed true. But to me, that means as little as a speck of dust. It never has done me any good. Now shoo. Get out. Stay at the Weasleys, if you don't feel like going to Dumbledore. Sleep with Potter if you want to make yourself feel better. He'd like it. And he'd never have to know. Though, Snape walked across the room to his desk and tossed Remus a bottle of a red-colored potion. ⌠you might want to take that first and wait 48 hours. Get rid of any STDs you contracted from someone."

"Wait, you - ?"

"No, I just don't trust you to be sanitary." Snape said, drinking a bottle of red potion as well. "Besides, who knows what was in that werewolf sewer."

Remus downed his bottle, set it on the desk, then left. Snape shook his head and concentrated on more important matters, such as keeping Draco from killing himself.

-

Red Roses2: I know. Forever to update. My writing is going to the dogs, isn't it? Here's the thing: I'm not interested in finishing this anymore. My inspiration has died. I apologize, but it has. So, I suppose I'm saying that this fiction is discontinued as of this update. Dodges flying objects Look on the bright side. From this point on, you can use your imaginations. Does Remus tell Harry? Does he finally sleep with him? Does Molly get to beat him around the head for sleeping with Snape? Know what, tell me what you think. Make up something that you think would make a great ending. 


	16. Finding Out

"I love you?" That is indeed true. But to me, that means as little as a speck of dust. It never has done me any good. Now shoo. Get out. Stay at the Weasleys, if you don't feel like going to Dumbledore. Sleep with Potter if you want to make yourself feel better. He'd like it. And he'd never have to know. Though, Snape walked across the room to his desk and tossed Remus a bottle of a red-colored potion. ⌠you might want to take that first and wait 48 hours. Get rid of any STDs you contracted from someone Harry walked along the dungeons trying to track down Remus. He'd seen him in the great hall. Harry walked toward the Snape's office and heard noices coming from the other side of the door moans to be exact.

* * *

I love you Remus Snape had moaned his breath cutting off then coming back to it's normal tone. 

Harry head lips kissing against skin and pulled his away from the door hurt on his.

Harry stared back at the door before running away tears flowing down his face behind his glasses.

He stormed into the Gryiffindor common room to see many of the people he knew staring up at him worried. Harry glared at them as he threw open the door to the boy's dormitories and ran into his own dormitory pain on his face.

Ron was there and stared over at Harry worried.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked staring over at Harry's pained face.

"Stupid, love lusting, student using bastard" Harry mumbled under his breath.

"Harry who are you talking about?"

"My soon to be ex-boyfriend" Harry mumbled under his breath again.

"Who Remus?" Ron asked.

"Yes, I found him having sex with Snape!" Harry shouted slamming his fists onto his bed.

"You didn't" Ron asked dumbstruck.

"Oh I did alright and it was completely rude, and self-centered thing Remus has ever done to me" Harry yelled.

"Harry why don't you talk to Remus about this.

"Because he's in the middle of having sex Ron" Harry said as though it was obvious.

"Oh yeah?"

"You should go talk to Hermione about this mate," Ron suggested.

"I don't need to talk I need answers" Harry said.

"I'll be back" Harry yelled running back out of the door.


	17. Fight

Harry walked into the Great Hall and stared over at Ron and Hermione before joining them. Harry stared up at the staff table meeting Snape's gaze he glared.

"Harry what are you doing to those bacon strips?" Hermione said staring at the peices of bacon that were now lying in dust under his hands. Harry grabbed the bacon and shoved it onto his plate before snatching her book bag and heading out the door.

"Harry" someone called from behind him. Harry turned around and stared at Neville.

"Yes Neville?" Harry asked.

"Are we going to D.A again next year?" Neville asked hopefully. Harry stared atNeville for a moment. He wasn't sure anymore what he wanted anymore he was waiting for a visit from Remus so they could talk. Harry grudinginly walked into Potions and sat as far away from Snape's desk as the tables would allow.

Harry took out his potions homework when Snape walked in with out any students.

"Mr. Potter entering with out a teacher, that will be twenty points away from Gryffindor" Snape smirked sitting down at his chair.

Harry glared at him across the room. Part of him was feeling hurt and another part was feeling jealous.

"Mr. Potter stop glaring at me or I'll force you into a detention" Snape warned.

"Or what you going to go--" Harry trailed off to daring to finish his sentence.

"Go on Mr. Potter what is it you suppose I'm going to do" Snape hissed smirking. his body increasing in hight.

Harry jumped forward throwing his chair against the wall.

"Your going to go and sleep with my boyfriend like you did two nights ago you man hore" Harry spat. Snapes smirk disappeared at his remark.

"That's lines Mr. Potter and your lucky I won't do more after that rediculous assumption" Snape hissed.

"Oh that's the best you can do after sleeping with Remus. Come on do more. Expell me do something" Harry said even though he was saying it as a retorical statement.

"Potter another forty points will be taken away from Gryffindor and you are to miss this class and recieve and T for the day now get out" Snape roared rushing forward taking Harry by the scruff of his cloak and tossing him out the door.

Harry glared at the door as it shut and crawled to a corner sticking his face in-between his feet. Harry erupted in tears. He'd tried to keep himself calm with anger. But, now that the anger was let out her felt empty. He couldn't believe Remus would do this too him.

"Harry what's wrong?" Ron said rushing over to where he was (the slytherins had already entered with out notice).

"I don't want to talk about" Harry said standing up and storming out of the dungeon.


	18. Talking with Remus

It was the last week of school and all Harry could look forward to was meeting Remus sometime before the summer holidays. He was in the middle of the great hall when for the first time in months Remus walked through the door. He knew the only reason for Remus's absence was because of the werewolves. Harry saw him join the staff table in a guess table.

Harry stared up at Remus waiting for him to turn and look at him. Which didn't happen until half way through breakfast. Remus shifted to Harry and gave him a quick smile. Harry mouthed that they needed to talk and Remus nodded before continuing on with eating his food.

Ten minutes later

Harry stood in an empty classroom waiting for Remus to enter. Only after about thirty seconds did Remus enter.

"Hay Harry" Remus said kissing Harry on the head.

"What've you been up to for the last two months?" Harry asked with fake curiousity.

"Werewolves that all" Remus said shrugging.

"Why'd you do it?" Harry asked.

"Do what?" Remus asked he only had one thing in mind that Harry might be talking about, but he hoped it wasn't it.

"You must no what i'm talking about remus?" Harry urged angrilly.

Remus decided to act dumb.

"Harry, I've abosolutely no clue what so ever your talking about" Remus included the what so ever to get more feeling into the meaning.

"Don't play dumb with me Lupin," Harry had to give all his strength in saying his boyfriends last name.

"Harry just tell me what you're talking about?" Lupin asked dumbly.

"Let me refresh your memory mmmmmmmm Remus" Harry did explamation points in the air.

Remus blushed and turned away.

"Remus just tell me if you had sex with Snape or not" Harry said now feeling a bit ashamed he should have talked to Remus before exploding on Snape.

"Harry you have to let me explain I was drunk, that night. I was talking to Snape about Greyback attempting to rape--" Remus was interupted.

"He did what and you didn't even tell me. Lupin I care about these things even if you think I'd be ashamed you'd tell me this." Harry snapped gritting his teeth.

"Oh and I suppose you did the same thing when Umbridge carved those words into the back of your hand" Remus said calmly.

"That's different I didn't tell Dumbledore or anyone else Ron and Hermione found out on accident" Harry explained.

"Harry why you yelling at me?" Remus asked.

"Probably because you told me you'd wait until I turned of age, and yet you went behind my back (A/N: This will be the last chapter with yelling i promise . . . I hope) and did it with Snape, after he broke up with you. Do you know how that makes me Lupin, do you" Harry said hurt.

"Harry, I can't keep my life on hold for some fifteen year old" Remus shot out before he could contain himself.

Harry took a step back that had been a major burn.

Remus regretted this and took a step forward. "Harry I didn't mean it"

"I think we should break up" Harry said.

Remus stared at him shocked. "You're doing what?"

"Braking up with you" Harry said before turning on his heal and running out of the room.

"Danm it Remus" Remus yelled falling down on his chair.

Meanwhile Harry was in his dorm room a blade in his hand.

He'd only done this once before and this would be the last. He took the blade to his left knee and peirced his skin righting the word FAILURE on his knee a blood pool flowing in-between his feet.

It was then that it happened.

-

Reed and review please Cam910


	19. I am going to continue this story

People've been asking me if I plan to continue this story. The answer is yes I'm just trying to plan a really good nineteeth chapter. Those of you who were expecting another great chapter sorry to disappoint you for reading something that doesn't even relate closely to Harry and Remus. A new chapter will be posted I hope by Friday.


	20. Fists of Fury

Harry walked into potions the next day jumping up and down this was the last Potions class he'd have to indure until next summer. He was pretty sure he could handle the stress of seeing that old scum bag. Harry took his natirural seat in the back of the classroom next to Ron and Hermione and stared up at the blackboard waiting for the instructions to appear.

Snape trotted in a look of disgust on his face, "you guys are lucky that today will actually be the last day of term for you all. The school's decided since Umbridge's gone and Dumbledore's back you'd deserve a little selibration. You may be dismissed. Mr. Potter is to stay I need a word with him."

The class looked at him in shock when no hint of a joke appeared on his face. They all jumped up howling dashing out of the Potions class excitment going through every student except Harry. Harry didn't know why, but the absence of another day at Hogwarts kind of seamed like his falt. For reason unknown.

"Mr. Potter I have been told to warn you that you are expected to practice Occlumency all Summer. . . If you were to stop I shall know because I will be teaching you Occlumency and Professor Dumbledore will be teaching you other rubbish" Snape hissed dislike all around his words.

Harry turned to leave, but Snape stopped him.

"There's one more thing Potter, this T you got from me should not be possible for if you got a high marks in the Potions O.W.L.s you would understand this Mr. Potter"

"Wait a minute how do you know my O.W.L.s scores" Harry shot.

"It's my job to check on these things. I wouldn't want a student who thinks that just because he's with a werewolf he's all smart. I hate people like that Hermione Granger I can stand. But, you Mr. Potter are nothing but a right old frod for thinking this. I will be talking to Professor Dumbledore about that werewolf and you. If i get another T from you next year I will throw you out of my class. Is that understood?" Snape asked eyeing Harry his eyes completely red.

Harry was fuming with anger.

And that's when it happened.

Harry jumped up from the ground and crashed down on Snape his fist colliding with Snapes nose. He actually heard it brake underneath his fist. He didn't know what had happen all he could remmember was that at the sound of _his_ name or what _he_ was it'd stuck a cord.

Harry collided his fist against Snape's jaw while Snape was trying to wiggle out from under Harry his hands pushing Harry's chest upward.

Harry punched Snape in and eye he actually heard him scream in pain. Harry stopped where he was. What was he doing he shouldn't be attacking his teacher. Harry jumped off of Snape and looked down at him. "I'm sorry" Harry whispered running out of the room.

The rest of that day Harry hurriedly ate his lunch. They were shipped off to King's Cross. Harry got in the car with his relatives and drove off to Private drive thinking the whole time of what he'd just done to Snape. It made no since he was always angree at Snape, but it'd never caused him to that much before.


	21. Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher

It had been in the middle of July when Harry had gotten an unexpected letter from Hogwarts. He'd been sitting right in front of the Burrow's fire; he'd just lost a game of wizard chess to Ron; the other Weasleys and Hermione had been watching. Last month, they had received their O.W.L.s and he had gotten quite a few owls. When another owl, came soaring through the open window, and dropped an envelope addressed to him, on his lap. 

Harry looked at the envelope curious. They usually didn't get the reminder to get on the Hogwarts express, and book list letter until August. So, Harry opened the envelope eagerly and read the letter out loud:

"_Dear Mr. H. P _

_ This is you Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall. Professor Dumbledore has asked if you wouldn't mind becoming the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Dumbledore had gotten the idea while seeing the superb marks for D.A.D.A (Defense against the Dark Arts) O.W.L.s: from everyone in the fifth year D.A (Dumbledore's Army). Well we await your answer. If you decide yes, look on the next parchment and see what D.A.D.A books for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh year you would prefer. _

_Hoping you are well, _

_Professor M. McGonagall. _

"Harry! Do you know what this means?" Mrs. Weasley asked trying to scan the letter for a false Professor McGonagall writing. Mrs. Weasley nodded. She evidently didn't find any forge in the hand-writing. It even sounded like their teacher.

"So, what'll your answer be mate?" Ron asked amused. Harry thought hard. He wrote down a few questions about his continued education in other subject. He also wrote yes of course. Well, there was no point in saying no. If he had succeeded in the D.A than why stop.

"Harry! I'm so excited! You a teacher! Who would have thought? I can't wait!" Hermione ran out of the room excited.

"Harry, I would advise you to fill out the second piece of parchment before returning your answer." George said. Harry could see him looking jealous about not being in school when Harry would be teaching.

Harry flipped open the next piece of parchment and began reading the titles of books and descriptions about them.

-

A month later (August 12th) Harry stood in Diagon Alley, at Madam Malkin's Robe for All Occasions buying new robes (non Hogwarts type robes). When Madam Malkin had headed toward the black robes, Harry told her that he needed a variety of different colors (he had been speaking in a whisper at this point) beside black for he was going to be a teacher. Madam Malkin looking unconvinced; took out a pad, so she could write down the measurements.

Harry walked into Flourish and Blotts, after walking in he grabbed the seven D.A.D.A books he would need for that year (seven grade levels). He had convinced Hermione to read them very fast, but very interesting so he could remember everything inside them. So, Harry got his course books and left Flourish and Blotts (after paying for his things).

Harry continued to other stores just for that year's lessons he would be taking, except Snape's. This was what confused him, if he was D.A.D.A teacher than what was Professor Slughorn teaching. There wasn't nearly enough subjects for him to join. Harry pushed this out of his mind. He left Diagon Alley then to return to the Weasleys.

-

On September 1st Harry stood on Platform 9 ¾ looking around at all the unsuspecting students. Harry jumped up and down excitedly. He didn't know why, but becoming the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher had driven Remus Lupin (his old boyfriend) out of his mind.

So, Harry stepped onto the Hogwarts express, he'd just been hugged and kissed goodbye by Mrs. Weasley. Ron and Hermione left to the prefect's carriages while Harry went to find a carriage. Too bad they didn't supply teachers with their own carriages.

-

Harry sat entered the Great Hall very nervous. When, Professor McGonagall came running over to him.

"Pr–Mr. Potter please follow me?" Professor McGonagall had stopped from calling him Professor. She'd stopped because the warning look Harry had been giving her. Malfoy sniggered behind her.

Professor McGonagall took him into an empty classroom just outside the entrance hall to talk to him. "Mr. Potter I was wondering if you might explain the fight you had last years with Professor Snape?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Professor, he'd started it. He held me back in class just to insult me to a breaking point. I had tried containing myself, but it didn't work. I'm sorry Professor." Professor McGonagall nodded understanding.

"Yes, I suppose the break up between you and Professor Lupin was hard." She nodded.

"Professor," Harry asked, confused.

"Yes, Mr. Potter we have three new teachers this year, teaching different subjects: you, Professor Slughorn, and Professor Lupin. Now, I really need to head out, and pick up those first years. Also, if you want it to be a surprise to everyone, sit at the Gryffindor table until Professor Dumbledore announces the new teachers.

Harry left the empty classroom and entered the Great Hall. "Potter, I suppose you black out again. Not, from a dementor this time, but from deprivation from friends on the way here," Malfoy sniggered.

Harry yearned to take ten points away from Slytherin for that, but it would ruin the surprise. Harry sat down between Ron and Hermione whispering so only the two of them could here. "I'm sitting here until Professor Dumbledore says my name." He told them. They both nodded in understanding and stared up at the Headmaster's chair.

Harry looked up to, just in time to see Dumbledore smile and wink at him knowingly. Only a few seconds later the sorting began. Seven or Eight students became Gryffindors. Five or Six each became Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs (sorry if this is misspelled). Slytherins got the most student eleven to be exact.

Professor McGonagall left to put the sorting hat away. Dumbledore stood up and looked around at all the students. "For those of you who were just sorted welcome, for those who came back for another year welcome back. Now I have a few announcements before we become full with supper. I would like to welcome back Professor Remus Lupin who's taking up the subject of Charms for Professor Flitwick became terribly ill over the holidays. Professor Slughorn is also a new teacher. He will be taking place for the Herbology (sorry if spelled wrong) teacher. Professor Sprout has asked to take a vocation for a two years; she's gone to America to study the magical herbs there.

"Now, I'm sure we're still missing a teacher up here. Will you please welcome Professor Harry Potter the new Defense against the Darks Arts teacher," Harry stood up and headed for the staff table. He heard everyone that was in the D.A hooting with joy yelling, "He's the best at it!" or "No better teacher you could find!" Harry saw Malfoy's face drop like a rock in shock.

Harry sat down next to Dumbledore. Hagrid was now beside him; the teachers had grown tired of him in the middle of the table, so they forced him toward the Headmaster. Harry blushed deeply; the shouts and whoops were still going. Professor Dumbledore called for silence and continued with his speech.

"Yes welcome Professor Potter. Now, as a beginner of the year reminder Filch has asked for me to remind you that you're not to use magic in the halls. Also, first years and others who need reminding the Forbidden Forest around the castle is off limits; for it gives homes to dangerous creatures. One last reminder please check the list on Filch's office door, so that you do not bring items into the castle that aren't aloud. I have three more words to say they are: Nitwit, pork, and Peck" the food appeared on the table.

The hall filled with the sound of people filling their plates with food; then the clatter of knives, forks and spoons could be heard. "'Arry 'u a 'eacher who 'ould 'ave 'ought eh?" Hagrid asked beside him.

"I couldn't, believe me. Hagrid were you this nervous on the night before you first lesson?" Harry asked shifting in his seat. Harry gulped when he saw Remus looking at him from two seats down.

"ye', it 'as 'orbbile," Hagrid gulped recalling the day himself.


End file.
